


You'll Never Have to be Alone... (Because I will always be by your side)

by TheLittleStar_tm



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort, Creepy messages, Did I mention someone is going to get hurt?, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, George - Freeform, George and Dream being soft with eachother, Georgewastaken, Gream - Freeform, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, I swear the more you read the more interesting it gets, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minecraft, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Please give it a chance I beg of you, Protective Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap george and dream are besties, Sapnap kinda third wheel but not really, Slow Burn, Somebody is about to get hurt, Stalker, Stalking, The tags might actually be warnings.. or they might be red herrings-, Things go south real quick, Things start slow but they accelerate quickly, Violence, Will I kill someone? thats for me to know and you to find out, a little fluff, buckle up youre in for a ride, don't mind the first chapter, dream - Freeform, dream team, dreamnotfound, i am bad at fluff, sapnap - Freeform, scared georgenotfound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26230753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLittleStar_tm/pseuds/TheLittleStar_tm
Summary: Dream lives in Flordia. George? He lives in England.Things are fine how they are, George lives a pretty average life. Yeah? all his friends are overseas. But he talks to them every day, distance was never really a problem.That is.. until George starts feeling like he's being watched...Basically, George lives alone in England. He was fine with living alone... until he goes in public he feels like he's being watched. And when the death threat was delivered to his doorstep? He really wished his friends were closer.UPDATES??? WHO AM I KIDDING ASAP (Normally within a weeks time)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 450
Kudos: 1222





	1. Just a normal day in my average, uneventful life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! Ahhh! Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my fic!! So, for the first chapter, it's actually pretty uneventful. it just sort of lays down the dream team group dynamic with some soft playful banter. (I'm sorry if the first chapter isn't very good... I am not the best at writing fluff.) I swear after this chapter things start to ramp up with our first introduction to angst at the beginning of chapter 2!! I have a lot planned for this story, with it ending out to be somewhere around 15-20 chapters. (Yes I have storyboarded it out, and everything, so I know how it ends >:D) But, buckle up! because you are in for a wild ride. I want to get chapter 2 out asap, so we can have some interesting conflict going which will entice people to actually stay and read. Expect it within a week max. 
> 
> Disclaimer- If George, Dream, or Sapnap ever speak out against me writing this fic, I will delete it immediately. I don't wanna upset anyone! Especially Dream and George considering I will be shipping them together in this fic.

“DREAM NO!”

George screams into the microphone as his screen flashes red, displaying the all too familiar _ ‘GeorgeNotFound was slain by Dream’  _ at the top of his screen. Dream laughs at George’s misfortune, they’d been PvPing on stream for about 2.5 hours now, and George had only won a handful of matches. And those matches had been close-  _ with handicaps _ . So basically, To put it lightly, Dream had been wiping the floor with him- and George was not having it.

“Woww… Who would have predicted that outcome.” Sapnap comments sarcastically through voice.

“Shutup Sapnap.” George quips shortly as he provides himself a new set of Diamond enchanted armor and axe. He runs over to Dreams character (who was decked out in full Iron) and hits him in the back to get his attention.

“Again.”

Dream chuckles before switching his hand to an axe and takes a swing at Georges shield. George successfully blocks it but somehow Dream manages to land a hit on him by quickly following through. George takes a swing only to miss completely, then be hit again by Dream. His health flashes from six hearts to three- realizing the pickle he found himself in- George screeches as he turns and runs, causing Dream to chuckle.

“C’mere George! You’re Dead!” Dream yells, swinging his axe recklessly behind george.

“Dream- No- _ Please! _ ” 

Despite Georges screams, he still sported a big grin on his face. He giggles slightly as he tries to use a tree to boost himself forwards. Knowing all too well that the chances of him actually getting away are slim to none. Suddenly, his character is hit from behind- depleting his health down to half a heart. George lets out a strained squeal as he tries to get away when-

“NOO!”

George's screen flashes red as Dream bursts out in laughter. George presses his hands to his face and groans in frustration. The outcome was expected, but nonetheless infuriating. He lays his hands back down onto the keyboard and respawns- then proceeds to type  _ /kill Dream _ into chat, killing Dream instantly.

“George-” Dream laughs as he respawns, only to be killed instantly yet again. Dream tries to respawn again, to be met with the same outcome as the past two tries. A big grin spreads across George's face on facecam as he sits there silently spamming the command.

“George let me go.”

George doesn’t respond as he kills Dream yet again. and again. and again.

“Well someone is baby raging.” Sapnap states. Moments later George's screen flashes red as he falls out of the world. When he respawns he runs to a nearby village and shuts himself inside one of the small houses. But, within a few seconds Dream would be opening the door, walking inside then closing the door behind him.

“Go away Dream.”

“Oh c'mon George… you know you love me.” Dream teases.

“Do not.” George scoffs, rolling his eyes. Now that was a phrase George was all too familiar with. Dreams humor tended to tread around the realm of flirtatiousness. Constantly he would ask George for a kiss or confess his love to George. But along with that, the fandom had picked up Dreams humor, and has now become invested in trying to get George to say it back. Sometimes they would go as far as trying to trick him into saying it through a play off of words. Sometimes things would get a little intense- but that was just Dream's sense of humor. Dream liked to flirt with people to get a reaction out of them. Never was there any real implications or feelings behind those words. And George knew that.

Despite how much he questioned it at times.

“Dream don’t get ahead of yourself. We all know that George loves me more.”

Dream chuckles “Yeah right.”

“You know I’m speaking the truth. I mean come on, you’ve seen the way he looks at me. He finds me irresistible.”

“Sapnap, weren’t you the one that was calling me a bad pvper earlier?” George pondered, raising an eyebrow.

“Water under the bridge Georgie.”

“All right that’s enough.” Dream states cutting into their banter. He leaves George and runs out into the field, reequipping his axe. “Sapnap I think it’s time we go a couple rounds.”

“George, take notes.” Sapnap jokes, with a hint of confidence seeping into his voice.

George scoffed. Sapnap was almost as confident as Dream- if not moreso. Sapnap probably fully believed that he could take down Dream in a 1v1, or at least get a better win to lose ratio than George did. Sapnap also fell under the category of flirtatious humor, maybe not in the same exact way Dream was, but the idea of it was just how their group was. Normally Dream and Sapnap would throw around some jokes and George would be caught in the middle of it. He can’t say he minded though, sometimes it was fun to sit back and listen to their banter. It made him feel worthwhile.

George caught himself- Was that pitiful? Maybe. George cringed a little at the thought of wanting Dream and Sapnap ‘fighting’ over him to feel worthwhile. Yeah, George could admit to himself he probably was the least confident out of the three of them- in fact, he could guarantee that. He wasn’t like…  _ down  _ on himself. It’s just, he wasn’t as confident in his own skin persay. He worries about his actions, and can easily be flustered. Not to mention he doesn’t do well in high-stress situations at all. Sapnap and Dream on the other hand? They both performed very well under pressure. George couldn’t help but envy them.  **_Imagine a world where you didn’t constantly second guess yourself._ **

George parkoured onto the top of the green pillar on the edge of the field to watch Dream and Sapnap fight from above. They did a lot of trading hits, but about 85% of the time Dream came out on top. This continued for a while, allowing George to sit back and mute as he read through a couple donations he had neglected earlier. And after a little bit, George looked down at his stream time, noticing it approaching 3 hours.

“Alright guys, I think I am going to go ahead and end the stream now.” He announced to his friends and the stream.

They both stopped fighting as the youngest spoke out first. “Bye Georges stream, I love you more than he does.”

“That would be incorrect Sapnap.” George states as Dream laughs before running in front of George's character, punching the air.

“We love you guys so much. Every single one of you guys.”

“Hope you guys have a great rest of the day! Thank you for coming out of the stream. Byee!” George waves at the camera as both of his friends chime in sending their farewells. George clicks the end stream icon before sighing and leaning back in his chair.

“Well I’d say that was a successful stream.” Dream comments.

“I agree, did you get any weird donations this time round?” Sapnap questions, George reaches out to grab his mouse to scroll through some of the donations he didn’t get to read aloud.

“Most of it was tame today. A lot of it was people asking me to say hi or happy birthday. Occasionally I got some trick donations that were trying to say  _ you know what _ to Dream. But nothing really bad.”

“All of your stans are pretty tame. I feel like I am the only one that gets those weird comments on stream.” Sapnap mumbles while his character runs around jumping on things within the minecraft window.

“You’re not the only one, I get those too. Along with the ones that talk about triggering things... I don’t really know what to do with them.” Dream states

“Those are the worst- I mean how do you even respond to those? I get those all the time and all I can think of is ‘I'm sorry to hear that’.”

George fiddles with the cord on his headset slightly as he thinks. His voice finds some sound as he thinks aloud, “That's just really sad.”

“I know. For the inappropriate comments I just kind of ignore them, I don’t really care and even if I did there's no way to stop them. So why bother?” Dream pauses. “And… for the other concerning comments- I try to give advice when I can… but there's only so much you can do as a content creator. And honestly. We aren’t anybody's therapists, I don’t know exactly what you’re supposed to do in those types of situations.”

“Couldn’t have said it better brotha.” Sapnap quips, shifting the mood from one of melancholy to slight jokingness. “All I know is my fanbase is pretty chill. We just be vibing over here on instagram live at like five am in the morning.”

“I think we all have pretty good fandoms. Everyone is very supportive, I really couldn’t ask for a better fanbase.”

“Except when they are trying to cancel you-” Sapnap remarks jokingly, Dream laughs.

“That doesn’t happen that often- and it's just the loud minority... the majority of my fanbase is fine.”

“Dream we all know over half your fanbase is a bunch of George stans.”

“Pft- what no.” Dream laughs.

“It's true, they just can’t resist his pretty little face.”

“Sapnap!” George gasps, flustered.

“What? I am just spitting facts.”

Dream wheezes at George’s reaction and then the rest of them burst out laughing. After a moment it all dies down, George picks up the conversation.

“Doesn’t ‘stan’ stand for something like ‘stalker fan’ or whatever?”

Sapnap hums in acknowledgment “Normally it does, but I think in our fandom they use it alot to describe like, hardcore fans. I honestly don’t think some of them know the true meaning of it.” 

George processes for a moment before speaking up yet again. “Does having ‘stans’ bother you?”

“No? To me they are just like normal fans just more active within the fanbase. Maybe if they actually ‘stalker fans’ I would be bothered by it. But that doesn’t really seem to be the case.”

“Dream?”

Dreams character continues to jump around ingame as he ponders the question. “Not really. You can’t really control what other people do. And I don’t mind the support.” Dream’s character stops for a moment to look at George's character. “Does it bother you?”

“No- not at all.” George states quickly.

“Then I probably am just going to leave it be, they can go by whatever they want. Them calling themselves ‘stans’ isn’t really harming anyone. And it's not like they are actually ‘stalker fans’. Most of them are a bunch of kids.”

Sapnap chuckles at that, before he morphed his voice into some high pitched impersonation mimicking a cartoon character. “ _ And I would have gotten away with it too- if it weren’t for you meddling kids! _ ”

Dream starts to cackle as George laughs “Sapnap did you just make a scooby doo reference?”

Before Sapnap got a chance to answer, Dream abruptly starts to sing; “ _ SCOOBY-DOOBY-DO. WHERE ARE YOU? WE GOT SOME WORK TO DO NOW. _ ”

George laughs as Sapnap joins Dream in his antics, continuing to sing the theme song. “ _ SCOOBY-DOOBY-DO. WHERE ARE YOU? WE NEED SOME HELP FROM YOU NOW. _ ”

George at this point is beaming as he sports a wide grin from ear to ear. He giggles, Sapnap and Dream are his best friends, that's for sure. He loved every moment he spent with them. Not only were they easy to talk to when it came to serious topics, but they were god damn hilarious when they wanted to be. George wouldn’t trade them for the world. And as he sat back in his chair listening to his two friends goof off reciting some old ass theme song- he thought about how happy he was right then and there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo.... What did you guys think? Uneventful. I know, but I swear there's a lot coming!!! I just thought I give you guys a breather before we dive in! Feel free to leave comments and critiques. I would love to hear them.
> 
> Some notes about the chapter:  
> -The pvp part was kinda in reference to the pvp stream from George? I didn't take any conversation from it, but I started the idea for the fic right after that stream occurred.  
> -haha yeah the talk about the donations was also in reference to some problems with donations in Sapnaps streams lately. Please don't send triggering stuff guys!! They aren't therapists... and they can't really do much to help. Feel free to reach out to me if you need too! but if you are really low down in the dumps, then you might want to seek professional help.  
> -I have nothing against stans!!! I am one myself lol. I just think the literal meaning of stan is funny. And it mighttt play into the fic later :P  
> -Also haha George I hope you're happy. Cause it's not going to stay that way I promise
> 
> Hope you all have a fantastic day!! <3


	2. I don't want to feel like a burden to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY!!! I know I said a week- but then between school and also this chapter being 2x longer than chapter 1... it ended up taking a little longer. I am not really fond of the chapter... and I never got my friend to look at it so expect there to be a lot of typos and just bad story writing lmao. I just wanted to get it posted even if it is bad though because I feel bad for making people wait haha.. (btw... if anyone wants to be a beta reader for me that might be pog...) But! I have decided I need a schedule- so sporadic posting like this stops happening. I feel like giving myself a deadline will keep me on track, and will make me more motivated to finish on time. So... I have decided to post every SUNDAY!!! With the occasional double post on Wednesday when I am ahead. Haha, this schedule might change.. but! for now we will say its that. I hope you guys enjoy my sub par writing!!! :P

The next morning George woke up to the familiar sounds of the busy streets outside his apartment.

London was a busy place, people were constantly buzzing around- having places to go, people to see. You almost could never find an empty street no matter what the time of day. Of course there are influxes at different hours, rush hour was a thing in London- but despite what time it was almost always loud. So it didn’t matter regardless.

George sits up and swings his legs over the edge off the bed, leaning forward to run his fingers through his hair to fluff out his bed head. He sat there for a minute to try and blink away the residual grogginess he had in the mornings, before reaching out to check his phone. He looks to the numbers at the top of the screen.

**12:37 PM**

Oh. Perfect. He didn’t have a recording session till eight o’clock. So he had about 7 hours to kill. Tonight he was filming another 3v1 manhunt with Dream, Sapnap, and Bad (was it the finale? The final finale? He didn't even know). His lip quirks up into a slight smile at the thought. Him and the other hunters have been preparing for weeks, walking through game plans and even practicing some PVP. There was no way Dream was going to come out on top this time. Every time Dream had won so far were all close calls- last ditch efforts in the end. And at least in Georges mind, all those times weren’t well planned out on the hunters part. So with their new sense of preparedness, George was convinced Dream didn’t stand a chance.

George opened up twitter on his phone and started to scroll through the timeline. It sort of became a part of his morning routine to check twitter mainly because if you leave twitter alone for more than a day you’re bound to miss something. George looks through tweets from his friends mixed in with the tweets of a few fans that he followed. Everything seemed pretty normal- no drama (luckily). George went to the search bar and typed in _#GeorgeNotFoundFanart_ before scrolling through the results. George liked a couple posts before stumbling upon a drawing of him, Dream, and Sapnap hugging. He smiles, examining the photo. It was very well done- all 3 of them were drawn in normal people clothes, including Dream who had his signature facemask strapped to the side of his head, but still allowing his eyes and smile to be visible.

It was always interesting to see how the artists would depict Dream in their drawings. Despite Dream not having a face reveal- people still insisted drawing him in human forum (which was probably for the best- considering his minecraft skin). Dream would mention sometimes that some of the art was actually pretty accurate, but it's not like George would know- he’s never seen Dreams face before.

George thumbed the picture as he zoomed into certain little details as he dove father into thought. Dream was his best friend, he had been for years, but yet he still has no idea what he looks like in real life. And… that kind of made him… sad? He gets Dream needs his privacy and all, he just wishes that dream would maybe… trust him? George sighs, he understood that the idea of showing his face probably just made him uncomfortable- it wasn’t meant to be something to be taken personally…

George thumbed at the picture a little bit more- _man what he would give to see Dream actually smile-_ before clicking off. He scrolled down into the comments of the thread, smiling as he saw various compliments and praises of the artwork. That is… until his smile faded when a certain comment caught his eye…

**_“Hey, I love your art style. But is there any way you could crop out George?”_ **

George’s heart sank as he read the comment over and over again. Crop him out? Why would they— he pauses, then hesitantly tapped on the profile of the user. Maybe… it was some sort of troll account. 

At first glance the profile looked pretty normal, they had a normal username and bio that would match up to any other stan account.

But their most recent posts on the other hand… were kind of upsetting..

hannahwastaken :)  
@dreamstanwastaken1   
I don’t really understand why Dream or Sapnap keep George around. I mean he’s really just deadweight. Not only is he not good at minecraft, but he isn’t funny either. 11:37 AM - 11 June 2020  3  97 

hannahwastaken :)  
@dreamstanwastaken1   
Why the fuck is Dream simping over George I mean COME ON. Dream could do soo much better. George is like a shell of a human. Dream is way out of his league. 10:59 PM - 10 June 2020  4  106

George bit his bottom lip nervously as a dreadful weight set in on his shoulders. An abundance of conflicting thoughts ran through Georges head- did people really think that way? Obviously so, people had liked and retweeted. But.. that's just a minority. He’s not _actually_ dead weight right? He did stuff- and his friends enjoyed his company. 

George’s body was tense. Who knew social media could cause so much stress? He hesitates, before clicking on the replies of the second tweet- maybe people were defending him… or something.

FUNDY IS CUTEE   
@fundyiscool   
@dreamsimpwastaken1 kinda agree.. I never really liked george :/ 11:16 PM - 10 June 2020  0  22 

James  
@dreamteamftw14    
@dreamstanwastaken1 George just isn’t interesting. Whenever he streams all he does is read out donations. He has no character. 11:54 PM - 10 June 2020  2  31 

juniper ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ  
@harvynskeppy132   
@dreamstanwastaken1 Honestly would rather see Sapnap and Dream together. You know, they are actually funny. And I think they would be a pretty good power couple. 1:32 AM - 11 June 2020  0  11 

Happy  
@happynaps   
@dreamstanwastaken1 I think that Dream and Sapnap only keep him around out of pity. I mean who wouldn't? I don’t think Dream actually likes him, I think he’s too nice of a person and is constantly trying to include him. 4:44 AM - 11 June 2020  2  36

George turned off his phone, throwing it down on his bedsheets as he quickly moved to stand, walking to the bathroom.

As he walked tears pricked in his eyes as he ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to quell some of the rising doubts in his mind.

His friends didn’t think that- right? It's the internet, nothing is true on the internet he knew that.

But what if they were right. Maybe his friends just pitied him, and that's why they were willing to spend time with him.  _ Because they felt bad _ .

He shook his head. No. The internet is toxic- and he knew that.. the internet is so so  _ toxic- _

**_… but why did he feel like they weren’t wrong..?_ **

  


* * *

Things were not going according to plan.

Of course Dream had a new set of tricks up his sleeve- for starters he literally spawn trapped the nether portal with lava, killing all 3 of them and burning all of their stuff before they even got the chance to stop Dream from finding the fortress. 

That ruined plan A and plan B. Plan A was to try and kill Dream in the nether while Equipped with enchanted armor and weaponry. But if Dream managed to get away, or if they decided that Dream could possibly kill them with their armor and set back their progress- Plan B was to fall back, get a blaze rod to make a brewing stand, then to destroy the spawners if Dream hadn’t found the fortress yet.

Neither of these plans were plausible without the nether.

So with their progress destroyed, George, Sapnap, and Bad were scrambling to get enough stuff to put up a fight in the end.

“George- Take this.” 

George whips around to face Bad as he starts to drop a set of Iron armor with a diamond sword. They had found 9 diamonds since their respawn, so it was decided to use 1 for an enchanting table, and the rest for tools. 

Speaking of which, Sapnap heads back down the cave with obsidian in his hand, handing it all to Bad. Bad then proceeded to craft a Enchanting table, then setting it down in front of them.

Silently they enchanted. Most likely this section won’t make it into the video, because nobody was talking, and Dream probably wasn’t doing something very interesting. That happened a lot in manhunt videos, often the 4 of them would refrain from talking in slower moments like this to try to prevent revealing what they were doing.

  
  
Dream has made the advancement [Eye Spy]   
  


_ “What.”  _ Sapnap states in disbelief as Dream laughs in response. Bad breaks the enchantment table and picks it as he turns to George and Sapnap.

“Guys we need to go check your compasses.”

George looks down at his compass. It pointed north. As he looked back up Sapnap would already be digging them a tunnel out to the overworld, Bad close behind.

George hesitates. Bad and Sapnap have done most of the heavy lifting now that he thinks about it. Bad was the one that found the diamonds while Sapnap got the obsidian for the enchantment table, not to mention that when they chased down Dream at the beginning, George was the first to die, losing all of their food in the process.

**_Ha. Maybe they were right, I’m just deadwei-_ **

“-rge. Earth to George.” 

George blinked as he moved his mouse causing his character to whip around. Bad was standing at the entrance of the tunnel they made to the surface.

“C’mon we need to go.”

“Oh- Right, yeah sorry.”

George quickly moves to follow Bad up the finished tunnel to the surface. Once up top they met up with Sapnap and proceeded to run in the direction of the red needle.

* * *

George entered the end first.

Well, technically Dream entered about 10 minutes before them- so he was first. But George was the first hunter.

After a moment of ensuring that the spawn wasn’t trapped again, Sapnap and Bad followed suit. The spawn was up in the air, and was already bridged across the mainland. By the looks of it, all the crystals were gone, but the dragon had almost all of its health- which was… weird. Considering the time Dream had in the end.

“Oh Dreamm~” 

Sapnap called as he sprinted across the bridge as the other two followed.

“Oh Sapnap~”

Dream called back as he ran to the middle as the Dragon circled back looking to land.

“There he is!” Bad yelled, throwing a pearl to land right by Dream, to hit him away from the bed. Sapnap followed Bads lead, flanking Dream from the side to land a hit while George moves to break the bed that Dream had placed down under the dragon. Then-

“AHHHH!!” George screeches as he is flung about a hundred blocks in the air. He switches to the water bucket in his inventory as Bad and Sapnap call out his name.

3..

2..

1..

He lands successfully.

Dream is on the run behind one of the pillars bowing back Bad and Sapnap. George runs in their direction and then Bad pulls back and starts to run in the other direction.

“Aah! I’m low! I’m low!” 

Dream notes Bads distress and tries to target him specifically, but George notes this tactic and cuts him off, hitting him away from Bad successfully. 

“Get him!!” Sapnap yells as he joins George in his attack, Dream blocks a hit from George but then is hit from the side from Sapnap. Dream lowers his shield and turns and runs.

“Oh god-“ Dream states and Sapnap bursts out laughing as he and George chase from behind.

“You’re so low, come here!”

By this point Bad had joined back into the fray, having a moment to regenerate his health. They all chased Dream to the edge of the map, before Dream scaled down the side of a cliffside, before entering a thin 2 block tall tunnel. George led the way as all three of them followed as Dream boosted himself down the long hall. Suddenly, Dream reached the end, blocking himself off with a layer of cobblestone. George starts to mine the cobblestone when the registers the sound of a lever followed by the hiss of… a creeper..? But- 

_ TNT- _

“GUYS ITS A TRAP-“ George screams as he tries to run backwards down the hallway- but it’s too long- and then-

**_BOOM._ **

_ Sapnap was blown up by Dream _

_ GeorgeNotFound was blown up by Dream _

_ BadBoyHalo was blown up by Dream _

_ “YESSSS!!” _

Dream yells as George stares at his death screen in disbelief. Dream laughs in triumph while Bad mutters  _ ‘oh my goodness’-  _ Sapnap sighs before speaking up.

“What was that-“ 

Dream just laughs in response- most likely finishing off the dragon. Most of the time Dream doesn’t really explain his tricks till after the video. 

“George! Why did you lead us down the long tunnel- it obviously was a trap!” Bad whined.

“ _ What-  _ Me?! We all went down it!”

“I was just following you guys!”

“If you knew it was a trap why didn't you say something?”

“Because you both went down it you muffin heads! I was in the back too so I couldn’t see anything. But since it was a long carved out hole it was obviously a trap- we talked about this!”

“Girls- Girls!” Sapnap yelled. “We still got this come on.” 

George finally respawned to see Sapnap kill some sheep at spawn collecting their wool. That’s right- maybe they could make some beds to use as explosions. It’s not like they had anything to lose-

_ Dream has made the advancement [Free the End] _

“Haha, yesss!!” Dream cooed as the rest of the groaned. 

“GG.” Sapnap stated.

“Ugh! We were so close-“ Bad commented with a frustrated undertone before teleporting to Dream. 

Sapnap changed into creative mode as he started to fly around. “What the hell was that trap from earlier- like- how the hell did you cause that big of an explosion.”

Dream laughed a little. “Haha- I made a TNT trap out of some red stone and a lever. I needed a way to kill you guys just in case you guys made it to the end. Normally if it ends up being a 3v1 in the end I lose because it's hard to balance all three of you and the dragon.” 

George teleports his character into the end, surveying the area. One side of the map would have a big crater blown out of it in a shape of a line. George inspects it while speaking up.

“How did you even get that much TNT?”

“I uh- ended up coming across 2 dessert temples. And then I got some extra sand and gunpowder to make some more.” Dream stated simply, bouncing around the map.

George hums in acknowledgment before falling silent yet again. He hadn’t talked that much during that manhunt, partly because he didn’t really need too. Sapnap and Bad were both very loud people. They liked to bark out orders all the time, and were very vocal about things they were doing. This allowed George to basically shadow them the whole time. But he didn’t really mind, his somber mood kind of called for it anyways.

George leaned back in his chair and pulled out his phone, zoning out of the conversation occurring within his headset. He opens up twitter for the second time that day, and scrolls mindlessly through his timeline. It was all normal. Just daily tweets from other creators like Tommy advertising his daily stream or Punz’s couple tweets a day. He considered looking through fanart again- but quickly decided against it, not really wanting to run into anything else for the second time that day.

Instead George spent a little bit longer checking basic things, before setting his phone back down. Focusing back in on his monitor in front of him, he moves the mouse of his computer while resting his other hand on his keyboard. George's character starts running aimlessly around the map, jumping up and down the edges of blocks, not really having any sense of direction.

George registered Bad, Sapnap, and Dream discussing something stupid, but decided to not pay any mind to it. Instead he let his own mind wander, recounting the events of the manhunt along with the events earlier in the day. He compared and contrasted the two, how much did he actually help during the manhunt? He was the first one to realize that the tunnel in the end was a trap- but he realized it far too late so that didn’t matter now did it?

George sat in complete silence other than the light tapping of his spacebar until a voice cut through his thoughts.

“Hey George-”

George blinks as he hums in acknowledgment to directly being addressed. After a moment George connects the voice in question to belong to Dream. 

“Are you going to log off…?” Dream says slowly. George pauses, glancing over to the ingame chat seeing that both Bad and Sapnap had already left. George then looks over to his second monitor, to see that it was just him and Dream left in the teamspeak- how did he miss Bad and Sapnap leaving?

“Oh- right. Sorry.” George says quickly as he exits out of minecraft, closing down the window.

“Its fine.” Dream states, hesitating only for a moment before continuing. “Um, George are you alright?”

George pauses, taking in the question. As far as he knew, everything was fine, yeah there were some minor things bothering him- but it wasn’t like anything was  _ deliberately  _ wrong…

“Yeah I am fine, why?”

“Uh I don’t know you’ve just been quiet today.”

“Oh. Yeah, I just wasn’t feeling the best today. I didn’t feel like talking over Sapnap and Bad.”

Dream hums, considering George's response. “Okay… Well, if something is bothering you- you can always talk to me or Sapnap alright?”

“Yeah, I know.” George states quietly, allowing the two to fall into a somewhat comfortable silence.

“Well I am going to get going. I have to download the footage from today.”

George chuckles lightly “Yeah, haha, I probably should head to bed anyway… Goodnight Dream.”

“Goodnight George.”

George hovers his mouse over the end call button, and clicks as Dream disappears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... That wasn't very poggers...
> 
> Sometimes even the littlest things on the internet can hurt. Whether the voice is big or small, words are words, and they mean something.
> 
> George in this fic has a little bit of inner turmoil when it comes to what other people think, especially his friends. No, this fic doesn't plan on being one where George is super depressed or anything like that. it's just that he constantly questions where his status is amongst other people.
> 
> For the manhunt section, I decided to make my own version.. because I didn't want to write about a video everyone had already seen before! (I also didn't do 4v1 because I don't know much about Antfrost.. and I feel like I wouldn't do him justice writing about him.
> 
> Sorry if the chapter was boring :/ or the writing wasn't very good. This chapter was a struggle. but its all setup for the rest of the fic. We might or might not have some live action coming up in chapter 3.... stay tuned. 
> 
> Thank you so much for giving me a chance haha! (and congrats if you actually made it through the author's notes lmao..)


	3. Someone needs to teach you how to dress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I-
> 
> Look. I know I said Sunday- but then school decided to yeet me off a bridge so here we are. The schedule might be a little wonky, but I wanna try to post this Sunday for realzies. Because I don't like not having a schedule :(( I hope you enjoy the chapter! Its probably the most intense one yet. BTW! I am still looking for a beta reader/someone to bounce story ideas off of if anyone is interested. haha since I don't have one yet expect there to be typos and grammatical errors. I don't proofread lmao. Enjoy! (So sorry for the delay)

George probably only left his apartment like- twice a week on a normal week. All he had to do was the occasional grocery shopping and maybe one other errand.

That’s sort of the thing with working from home, you don’t need to leave your house to make an income. Therefore, there’s really no reason to leave your house.

Especially when you're like George and your social life is solely online.

George found himself in a navy blue windbreaker walking down the street heading to the nearest Grocery. It was only a couple blocks away from his apartment, so he didn’t feel the need to take the bus. He glanced at his phone, he only had about 3 hours before he needed to be home again. He had another scheduled recording session with Sapnap and Dream- this time some sort of “Minecraft but..” challenge that is going to go on Sapnaps channel.

George slid his phone back into his hoodie pocket while holding his hands underneath the fabric. It was mid-autumn and the city had started to pick up a cold breeze. Not enough of a temperature change to warrant winter clothing, but enough to a breeze can be slightly uncomfortable.

He keeps his head down while walking with the crowd on the busy sidewalks, before peeling off and walking into the brightly colored interior of the Grocery store.

George grabs a cart and examines the aisle before him. He quickly reached into his right jean pocket, pulling out a crumpled up piece of paper. He unfolds it.

_ Grocery list: _

_ frozen pizza _

_ milk _

_ chocolate raisins _

_ 2 bags of crisps _

_ cereal _

George doesn’t even need to look through the signs hanging above the isles to know where he needs to go. He walks down the front of the store before quickly turning right into one of the isles, leading himself straight to a vast selection of frozen pizza.

He stands there for a moment, before ultimately deciding to pick 2 pepperoni pizzas, he sets it into the cart. Glancing down at the next thing on his list.

When George looks back up he turns the cart to the right, walking to the backend of the aisle. In the corner of the aisle, there would be a person loitering around, examining glass doors in front of them intently. They were wearing a black coat, gloves, hat, and sunglasses?

George blinks away, reminding himself that it’s rude to stare. But a hat and gloves? Really? It’s not  _ that  _ cold outside. And not to mention the sunglasses, it’s cloudy outside, so there’s really no reason to wear sunglasses. But, who knows, it’s the Grocery store. Some people just straight-up roll up in their pajamas.

George turns the corner, quickly making it to his next destination. Quickly grabbing himself some milk before moving on to the next aisle on his list.

Walking across to the other side of the store his items were rather close together, 2 of the items were in the same aisle, while the other was in the aisle next to it. George set down his basket and stood on his tippy toes to reach some crisps on the top shelf.

After a moment of struggle, he manages to catch the bag with his fingertips falling back onto his heels. He clutched for a moment... When he starts to feel a slight uneasiness in his chest.

Strange… He paused trying to identify the reason for such a feeling. It felt like a wave of underlying anxiety building within his stomach, threatening to pester him further if he didn’t choose his next actions carefully.

But was there anything even wrong? The feeling inside him was so random- so unprovoked… he felt like he was about to go up and present in front of his class in middle school- or that unsettling feeling when you just got out of an argument with someone, and they were staring you down from across the hall.

George looks up and down the aisle, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

About 15 feet to his left was a blonde woman examining a box of cereal, babysitting inside the cart. She was paying no mind to him, more concerned about finishing her groceries in a timely manner to keep her child at bay. 

George then surveyed the right of him, to see a person with a black hat and sunglasses looking at the freezer section at the end of the aisle. 

Didn’t he see them before already..?

George shrugged it off. It’s a public place, it’s not unusual to see people twice.

He picked up his basket and stuffed the bag of crisps inside, turning to head down the left side of the aisle.

And as he left, he felt the weight in his chest grow slightly heavier.

  


* * *

George handed his stuff to a cashier and pulled out his phone while waiting for the cashier to finish their work.

He tapped onto the message icon, quickly clicking to a group chat shared between Dream, Sapnap, and Him. 

The feeling in his chest hadn’t subsided, if anything it had gotten slightly worse- Maybe he was just feeling a bit of paranoia, walking around amongst other people in real life. He didn’t really talk to anyone in person, because all of his friends are online. Besides his occasional weekly errands, there wasn’t much in-person socialization.

Maybe he just needed the comfort of his friends.

He starts to type out a message;  _ “What's up gu“  _ George stops, fingers hovering over his keyboard. Wasn’t it a little annoying to be pestering them all day..? They most likely had other things to be doing before their recording session. They had lives, real-life friends, a family that lived nearby and that they were close too- not to mention George nearly talks to them every day. Who knows, they might already be sick of him.

George deletes the message.

“Sir- do you have any bags or do you want plastic?”

George’s eyes shoot up to meet the cashier, he stuffs his phone into his pocket while processing the question.

“Uh- yeah I have a bag- sorry.”

George digs into his coat pocket and pulls out a plain blue bag made out of fabric. He used it almost every time he went grocery shopping because it was slightly bigger than the normal bag, allowing him to only bring 1 bag home- making the trip a lot easier, and preventing the risk of the bag breaking.

The cashier stuffed George’s items into the bag, before handing it over the counter to George. George takes it and nods, as the cashier chimed out; “Hope you have a nice day!” George smiles slightly and nods.

“You too.” 

On George’s way out, he tried to shake the uneasiness off his chest- maybe he just needed some fresh air. He shakes his head, sighing, and completely missing the person with the sunglasses standing without any groceries in hand loitering a little to the side of the entrance.

Once outside George took a deep breath as the cool air brushed across his face. He felt better.. right? He glanced around at his surroundings. The streets were busy, and people were moving- George smiled as he watched a little girl hop down the street with what looks to be a new doll. Gripping his groceries in his left hand, he looked left and right before joining in with the traffic of people heading towards the right in the direction of his apartment.

Mostly he mindlessly walked, letting his uncalled anxiety from earlier die down to a low hum.

While walking George didn’t really have to pay attention to his surroundings. He knew exactly where he was going, and he walked this street so many times, the decorations of the stores and other office buildings simply didn’t appeal to him anymore.

That is, until he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye, down close to the ground.

His walk slows slightly as he watches the source of the movement. Two pigeons were having a tug of war over a piece of bread that was most likely found on the ground. George chuckled, he’s seen birds fight before… but never have a full on tug of war. 

He peels off to the side of the sidewalk, before pulling out his phone. He swipes up to open up the camera app only to be met with the camera reflecting his own self in the digital image. Before George even has a chance to flip the camera around… his heart sinks into his chest.

Anxiety coming back full force- George’s muscles tense as he takes in the person with the black hat and sunglasses, standing with his hands in his pockets about 30 meters back from him. The person was looking down at the ground, sort of loitering. They seemed a little out of place just standing there, not really serving a purpose as to why they are simply sitting doing nothing.

  
  


_ That’s definitely the same person- _

_ How many times had I seen them today..? _

_ Maybe this is all some major coincidence. _

_ There’s no way this is a coincidence. _

  
  


Multiple thoughts race through George’s head as his anxiety builds and builds. He stays frozen, hope- logic- and reason- clashing with one another as he debates whether this is actually happening or he’s just paranoid.

**_Was this guy following him..?_ **

He doesn’t have to wait for an answer within his head. For within seconds of that thought occurring the person looked up- making eye contact with the camera (well- assumes eye contact because it’s kinda hard to tell where someone is looking with sunglasses). Then, the person started heading straight for him.

George reacted in seconds hastily striding down the sidewalk, holding his phone with both hands as panic continued to rise- rise-  _ rise _ \- His hands started to shake slightly so he just squeezed his phone tighter to get them to stop.

Every couple seconds he looked back, to see the person about 25 meters back- but never gaining. Instead they somehow matched George’s stride from afar; like it was some sort of practiced art.

George picked up the pace a little bit more. Accidentally bumping into someone when he looked back at his pursuer once more. What the hell did they want? What if they caught up- oh god.  _ What if they caught up- _

As George’s panic reached a new summit, he forgoed the underlying feelings that told him to not cause a scene. George broke off into a sprint, running down the length of the street before making a sudden right turn onto the street his flat was located. George glanced back once- finding the person to be gone. But yet that didn’t stop George from running the rest of the way home.

He bounded up the stairs to his home, fumbling to unlock the door with shaky hands. After a couple sloppily missed attempts the door swings open, and George stumbles in. Quickly he turns and shuts the door behind him, bolting it closed. 

The moment the door was locked a wave of relief washed over George. He was safe. At least right now- 

It took a moment for George to notice how hard he was breathing, his hands still trembling with the groceries in his left hand. He slowly took a couple of steps backward away from the door before his shoulders lightly hit the wall; then next before he had a chance to blink- George found himself on the ground.

The groceries clatter to the side, some of the items falling out of the bag (although luckily the milk surprisingly didn’t break). George curls in on himself, hugging his own torso as he pulls his knees up in front of him. 

He felt his heart beat rapidly, and his mind was clouded with adrenaline making it hard to process both what just happened, and the emotions he was feeling. Panic still surged in waves but as each minute passed it loosened its grips on him ever so slightly.

_ He was okay- He was fine- It’s fine-  _

**_For now._ **

But that was all that really mattered, wasn’t it? He’s safe.

George’s head throbbed as it fought between processing and panic, he laid his arms on his knees to use as a buffer so he could lay his head down for a moment. He took another stifled breath as he tried to calm himself in the new position.

He could stay here- gather his bearings, then process what the fuck just happened. That seemed like a good plan.

Good plan… yeah.

Yeah… He was going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was fun :)))
> 
> Spooky manz, spooky womanz? who knows who knows.
> 
> Take note that I tried to not specify a gender for the person with sunglasses. I don't really want a gender to be pegged on them (at least not yet.) and in Georges's perspective, they are wearing enough clothing an accessories to hide a true identity when he isn't looking hard enough.
> 
> ALSO- George bro stop doubting yourself.
> 
> Thats all I'm gonna say now baiiii comments and kudos are appreciated ILY <3


	4. Are you sure?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BRO I AM SO SORRY-
> 
> I- Uh- Excuses. Okay. Here we go lmaoooo  
> First off apologies for this being SUPER LATE haha.... I know I saidddd I would be better but like when have I actually been reliable. (ALTHOUGH I SERIOUSLY PLAN ON BEING BETTER FROM NOW ON PLEASE-). I got hit with being the editor for my MCC Team... cause we were applying to be in MCC as a viewer team. I actually pulled an all-nighter for it. Edited for 24 hours straight. and then we didn't get in *tears*. So, that was sad, and a complete waste of time L. Thennnnn after that school hit me HARD between midterms and the sudden realization that my procrastination was going to screw up my grades for good if I didn't fix it ASAP. So I pulled 2 more all-nighters to fix my grades hahaha. Thennnn I finally got around to writing this. Soooo Low and behold the chapter I really struggled to write!!! I think since I am so lagged from school it gave me major writer's block because some parts of this chapter were super hard to write when they shouldn't have been. But, I wanted to get it up and posted really bad because I hate to make you guys wait. (Also, I got a beta reader so thats pog! So maybeee my grammar isn't terrible anymore ~ KiyoshiUnknown is a KING) MORE UPDATES COMING SOON HOPEFULLY MORE FREQUENTLY ILY ALLL

Honestly it’s a miracle George made it to the recording session at all.

After everything that had happened earlier in the day, George was still coming off his panic. He felt.. Off... Stressed. Overwhelmed. Scared?  _ Watched- _

It was hard to tell how he was feeling, everything mixing together slightly as he calmed himself down.

The event itself was hard for George to grasp. Was he  _ certain  _ that the person was actually following him, was he imagining things? Why the hell were they following  _ him _ … Did they know who he was? Why didn’t they do something in the grocery store? How did they suddenly  _ disappear- _

George would have probably spiraled in his thoughts all afternoon. If it wasn’t for the text he received from Dream at 6:11PM   
  


  
**_Dream:_ ** _ hey, you didn’t forget our recording session did you? _

**_George:_ ** _ shit. no just got sidetracked i will be on in 5 _

  
  


Now, at exactly 6:27PM George found himself loading up minecraft as he connected to the discord call. The moment he joined in his headphones were flooded with the sound of Sapnap as he screamed.

“GEORGE!”

Dream laughed “George- What took you so long? Jesus,”

George hesitates, reeling slightly from Sapnaps screaming. He was  _ really  _ out it.

“Uhmm.. I had a bit of a morning… lost track of time I guess..”

Georges responds with uncertainty plaguing his voice. Should he even mention what happened? Would that make him a burden..? While the heavy anxiety on his chest from earlier had been lifted- the uncertainty and self doubt of his perception of the situation as a whole left him conflicted and queasy. George felt as though he was untrustworthy, even though he knew what he saw. He couldn’t be wrong- that person was definitely following him. But then why did he feel like he was wrong? Maybe he is just imagining things. Although, if he was right and that person  _ was _ following him does that put him in danger? What did they want? Do they know where he lives-

Either way, the waiver in George's voice was enough to be picked up by both of his close friends. A silence follows George's statement only for a moment before Dream picks up the conversation, his playful tone forgotten as he picks up a softer more worried diction.

“Did something happen..?”

George doesn’t respond allowing a silence to spread between them. Should he even tell them? That would just cause them to worry. He doesn’t want to be a burd-

“George?” Sapnap states, breaking George from his thoughts. After only another moment of hesitation George sighs, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie nervously.

“I.. uh- when I went to the grocery to run some errands there was uh… this person that kept on hanging around the store near me. And uh after I left the store I saw them walking down the street behind me. It seemed like they were following me or something-” George lets out a shaky breath. “... I don’t know- they were just looking right at me and kept on walking a bit behind me down the sidewalk. I felt very uneasy about it,” 

“Did they follow you home?” Dream asked, concern bleeding through his voice.

“Uh- no I don’t think so. After I turned down my street I checked behind me and they had just disappeared…”

George faded off his sentence just as Sapnap cut in to make a comment “Are you sure they were following you then? They could have just been walking down the same street as you. The street you saw them on was a main street right?”

“Yeah-”

“So they might have just happened to be going to an apartment of their own farther down the street or something. You most likely were fine. Everyone has to go to the grocery store every once in a while,”

“I guess…” George starts to state, when Sapnap claps his hands together.

“Then boom. Mystery solved. Georgie is just paranoid. Now let's get to recording shall we?” Sapnap states happily. George doesn’t say anything as Dream buds back into the conversation.

“Are you sure you are alright George?”

George tries to push the thoughts of worry away as he chuckles nervously, sitting up in his chair to prepare to start recording. He plasters a weak smile onto his face even though facecam isn’t on, quickly responding to Dream.

“Haha yeah I am fine. Sapnap is probably right- it's definitely nothing. I’m just delusional,”  _ Was I just seeing things? _

Dream scoffs “You're not delusional George,” 

George doesn’t respond to Dreams last comment, for the most part he said it jokingly.. But yet there still was some underlying sincerity within his voice.

George logged in fully seeing Sapnap and Dream both already standing around spawn. Dream was bouncing on and off a block next to spawn while Sapnap’s character sat completely still. George chews on his lower lip as they sit in silence while Sapnap sets things up. He considers what Sapnap said.. Was he really that paranoid? Who knows, he could be subconsciously making things up for attention, how pitiful is that? But it would make sense- wouldn’t it? Because let’s be real, who actually would spend the time of day to pay enough attention to George to  _ follow _ him. I mean come on, that makes no sense.

After a moment of sitting there George shakes himself. 

**_Cmon. Focus. We are done thinking about it. It’s nothing, have fun with your friends before they get sick of you._ **

“So what are we doing today?” George quips, forcing some energy into his voice.

“Minecraft, but with constant blindness.” Sapnap states mischievously. And before he could question anything further, typing could be heard on Sapnap’s end as he ran the command. Then next thing you know the surrounding world faded to black darkness around them. The overall sight radius was bigger than normal blindness, allowing them to see about 5 blocks in any direction rather than like one. But, that was it. 

“Well. Let’s get started shall we?” 

George looks around the small area around him. He could barely see Sapnap and Dream right in front of him. Also, from what he saw before the blindness was applied, they were standing in the middle of a plains biome. Suddenly, Dream's character disappears as he whines.

“I can’t see anything!”

“DREAM! We have to stick together!”

Dream laughs as suddenly he reappears from the darkness in front of Sapnap and George.

“C’mon we need to go find wood,” 

Just before they had another moment Dream disappeared into the darkness again. 

“Dream- oh my god, wait up!!” Sapnap yells while attempting to follow Dream into the darkness. A smile finally creeps up on Georges face as he watches his friends joke around, the somber mood from earlier dropping completely. George's character takes off into darkness after his friends. 

  
  


* * *

This challenge was turning out to be a lot harder than expected. 

The thing with not being able to see right in front of you is finding normal things like wood, water, or even caves is much more of a struggle. 

For instance, finding a tree took them like 10 minutes due to the fact they spawned in a plains biome. Now, they were all wandering aimlessly in the tunnels of a cave- trying to find anything of use whether it be Iron or hopefully a lava pool.

Speaking of lava, George can’t even begin to imagine what the  _ nether  _ is going to be like with blindness. You thought finding the fortress was hard to find in normal 1.16? Imagine trying to find it while only seeing a few blocks in front of you. 

Luckily they didn’t really have to worry about that yet. George watched as Sapnap set up a group of furnaces along the wall and Dream came back with some more Iron. While Dream and Sapnap carried the conversation for the most part by making jokes or comments about the game, George listened constantly. He honestly didn’t really feel like carrying the conversation anyway. The recording session as a whole had helped him get his mind off the person from earlier. He almost forgot about it. 

Almost.

While Sapnap and Dream were talking about something stupid (as always) George began to zone out. Not in a way where he was thinking about anything in particular- just where he wasn’t paying attention to anything around him. He was unsure of how long he was sitting there for- but he was snapped out of it quickly when an alarming set of words broke through his thoughts.

“GEORGE LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!” Sapnap screeched. Panic struck George like a truck as he dropped his mouse, spinning around in his chair to survey the room behind him. 

**_Who- Where- are they here?_ **

There was nothing…

His breath caught as he took in the room, his adrenaline spiking- There was nothing- nobody’s here. 

George felt overwhelmed. But he didn’t even have a moment to process these emotions when-

**BOOM**

George screamed as the loud sound of a creeper exploding startled him. Infact, it startled him so much he jumped backwards away from his computer- ripping his headphones out in the process. The sounds of his friends bursting out in laughter, Dream wheezing filled the room as his sound reverted to his speakers in his headphones absence. Peering over to the computer screen as his death screen was displayed in red. George’s heart was racing, hands shaking all over again. What the fuck is wrong with him? He stood still like a statue, trying to process the situation.

It was just a creeper.

_ It was just a fucking creeper. _

George looked to his closed bedroom door, slowly taking off his headphones and setting it on his desk. 

He needs to make sure.

George turns back to his computer, where his friends laughter has died down to an afterthought, his hand hovers over the mute button on his keyboard as he speaks shakily.

“Hey guys I’m going to go get some water,”

Then, he clicks the mute button before waiting for their response, and hastily makes his way out of his bedroom.

  
  
  


The first thing he does is peer up and down the hallway. There’s nothing. Then he goes up and down the hallway to check all the rooms… nothing again. He checks all the windows- locked. Front door? Locked. Everything is untouched. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

**_George is just paranoid._ **

He huffs. Grabbing a glass of water before sitting down at the counter. Letting the ice spin lightly.

Maybe he is just paranoid- but his mind is running a million miles a minute, so he feels the need to be. 

But it’s nothing. It was nothing. That has been established and reiterated so many times. He just needed to get over it.

George took a sip from his drink as he held the glass with both hands. The cold condensation against his fingertips helped calm him as his heart rate slowed and his hands stopped from shaking. He sat there for awhile… he wasn’t sure how long, but it must have been long enough to be abnormal because next thing you know his phone started to buzz within his pocket. He pulls his phone out to read the recent notifications.

**_Dream:_ ** _ hey, are you alright? _

**_Dream:_ ** _ you’ve been gone for awhile _

George stared back at the message for a moment, before slowly typing a message out in response.

**_George:_ ** _ all good. just got distracted. coming back now _

And with that, George put his phone away, picked up his glass, put it into the sink, then headed back to his room to confront his friends with the most upbeat facade he could muster.

_ He was just being paranoid. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Hahahahaha
> 
> Creeper go brrr


	5. Maybe you shouldn't second guess yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoy!!! School has been killer I am crying. But, I have the weekend! I am currently writing chapter 6 as we speak!! I am really motivated to get as ahead as possible tonight and tomorrow... so maybe you guys might be treated with multiple posts this week...? Idk, we will see... ;) well. Hope you'll enjoy the chapter!!! I hope it turned out alright... idk how I feel about the ending.

A couple days following the recording session with Dream and Sapnap, things started to get better. George's anxiety had dissipated to nothing and his spirits began to be lifted again. Talking with his friends for hours on end, doing a grocery run later in the week with no weird occurrences… it was… normal. 

Maybe the whole thing earlier that week was actually all in George's head.

George slumps back in his chair after ending the call with his friends a few minutes prior. He had just got off for the day. They weren’t recording or anything… just hanging out, and it was a lot of fun. Just before he left the call actually, the three of them were all making the dumbest jokes about Dreams left toe...? He didn’t even know. It started off with Dreams rather poorly drawn avatar all the way into who’s toe has the best “personality”. Honestly, none of it made sense. But it was funny as hell.

It was always the weirdest shit when it came to Dream and Sapnap.

After a couple moments of reminiscing, George stood up to move, making his way to the kitchen. Setting down his phone on the counter he opens up the fridge to examine the possibilities he could have for food before going to bed. He didn’t really feel like making anything too hard- but a con to living alone was that whenever you wanted food you had to make it yourself. 

As a few more moments passed George ended up setting on heating up some leftover pizza from the day prior. He set a couple pieces on a plate before moving to the microwave to heat up his food. While his food was heating, he went to find the remote to turn on an episode of Locke and Key, **** to watch while he ate.

Conveniently, The moment he got the show started up, the microwave beeped signifying that his food was ready. George grabbed the hot plate along with a glass of water, and settled down pressing play on the show. Watch as in this series, following their father's murder, three siblings move into a house filled with reality-bending keys; from the comics by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

As he watched the show he sighed, relaxing back into the couch with his plate in hand. Things felt comfortable. George’s underlying anxiety and doubts seemed to be nonexistent for the evening. He didn’t feel like a burden. The weird events of the a couple days ago were nothing but an afterthought, and his friends' goofy laughs were fresh on his mind.

He was happy.

As the show came to a close George set his empty plate into the kitchen before turning off the TV entirely. Stifling a yawn George rubs his eyes, turning off the lights to the main room as he walks down the hall to his bedroom. George is about to flick off the light in the hall right next to his bedroom, when something causes him to hesitate.

_Ding!_

The sound of his phone's text notification echos down the hallway. George looks back down to where the kitchen is before sighing. He must have left it either on the counter or by the couch… he didn’t really keep track of it. 

George lazily walks down the hallway when the phone would ding twice more, echoing through the room. Flicking on the main switch in the living room George squints adjusting to the bright fluorescent lights. His phone echos again, and again, before it starts to vibrate- his ringtone singing through the large room. 

George moves to the couch to check the cushions and the side table- nothing. The phone only rings for another moment before falling silent once more… but, after a few seconds it starts to ring one more. Filling the room with music.

Whoever was calling him was very persistent.

George made his way into the kitchen after searching the living room, finally noticing his phone sitting on the counter. He picks it up looking at the screen to read the caller ID. Dream. Why the fuck would he be calling him over an hour after he said he went to bed-

He answers the call.

“.. Hello?”

_“George!”_ Dream exclaims a little too loudly for George’s liking at this time of night. Considering he felt like he felt like he could fall asleep at any moment at this point.

_“I’m sorry did I wake you-“_

“Uh not really I was about to head to bed..”

_“I’m sorry- uh- yeah. I probably normally wouldn’t have called you but this seemed kind of urgent.”_

There was a hesitance in Dreams' voice. An uneasy edge to it… why did dream sound… nervous?

George’s heart clenched.

“Why- what’s wrong?”

_“... George have you been on twitter at all tonight..?”_

George immediately moves the phone away from his ear, clicking on the speaker button before tabbing out of the call. While pulling up Twitter he continued talking.

“No what’s happening on twitter-“

_“George stay on call.”_ Dream stated firmly, but yet his worried undertone hadn’t been left out of the statement.

George would have responded with another question- or at least some sort of comment. But the words were ripped out of his throat. His notifications were exploding (although honestly, they always were on twitter) but it was just the same thing over and over again. The same picture again and again and again.

The same picture of _him._

Now, this wasn’t like a normal poorly screenshotted picture of him from one of his facecam streams no no no- this was him dressed up in a blue windbreaker with groceries in hand, slightly looking over his shoulder. He was standing by a street corner, and sighing the picture street sign clearly visible for all to see. George wasn’t looking directly at the camera- if anything he seemed to be completely oblivious to it. The picture seemed to be taken off to the side, through the crowd. 

George’s heart rate quickened. And his throat closed. He knew exactly when this was taken- he had too- it had too- his brain reeled as the dots all connected between how this could have happened, and what this means.

Blue windbreaker, groceries-

His face.

Someone took a picture of him-

Someone took a picture of him in public.

The street sign was clearly visible within the picture..

Oh god.

**_Someone just doxxed him._ **

_“... George?”_ Dream’s voice cracked hesitantly through the phone. George, still frozen due to being overwhelmed with a plethora of negative emotions, lacked a response. _“George are you alright?”_

George felt dazed as he moved backwards, running softly into the wall behind him. Then from there, he slid down to the floor as a silent tear rolled down his cheek. The anxiety and fear plaguing his thoughts as multiple ‘worst case’ scenarios played through his head. His head hurt. What the fuck was going on?

_“George you’re star-“_

“Dream what do I do.” George stated blankly, abruptly cutting Dream off.

_“I…”_ Dream falls off his sentence to give himself a moment to think. George sniffles, his quiet despair carrying through the phone as his attempts to compose himself fail. Dream’s voice softens to a worried hush, as he speaks soothingly through the phone.

_“Hey- you’re okay, just take a deep breath.”_

George inhales, pressing two fingers into the bridge of his nose as he somewhat collects himself. He can’t freak out. Breathe. Now is not the time to freak out. You can’t freak out. _Not while Dream is right here._

“... Dream.. They doxxed me..”

_“I know- look. Sapnap already knows about it, we can take care of twitter. What they did wasn’t right. And me and Sapnap can make a statement on it. You need to just step away from it, we will make sure everything is taken care of.. Was the street sign right by your house?”_   
  
“Not exactly- but it was pretty close to it. Just down the block.”

Dream sighs audibly through the phone in frustration, most definitely running a hand through his blonde locks. 

_“Right. Okay. Well, at least it wasn’t right by your house. I would see if we could get the picture taken down but honestly it’s already out so no matter how hard we try it most likely will never be gone completely. The account that posted it was created today, so we really have no idea who it was. The account seemed to be created for the soul purpose of posting the picture. Most likely to keep their identity anonymous-”_

As Dream rambled on George tuned out for a moment at his latest statement over the anonymous persons. His mind immediately switching to the events in the week prior. Black coat, gloves, hat, and sunglasses-

**_The day he was followed._ **

“I know who took that picture of me.” George stated as his arms tingled, sending a nauseous wave of nerves to his chest.

_“You know who it was?”_ Dream said with slight hope in his voice.

George winces at his bad choice of wording “Ah- no. Sorry.” he presses a hand to his face in an attempt to quell his rising anxiety recalling the mysterious person from earlier in the week. 

“The day I was followed- I- I think it might have been them.”

Dream doesn’t respond, letting silence fill the air for a moment. 

_“They didn’t follow you home right?”_

“No.”

_“Are you sure?”_

George hesitates. Recalling the events of a couple days prior. The stranger randomly disappeared on the main street. He couldn’t have followed him.

“I am pretty sure-”

Dream hums in acknowledgment, waiting a moment to let his thoughts collect himself before speaking out.

_“George I think you need to take a break.”_

“Huh? What do you mean a break?” George's voice quips in slight surprise.

_“I mean- I think you need to take some time away from twitter, streaming, everything. Just a day or two. To let this all blow over.”_

George fell silent for a moment, contemplating the idea. It oddly made sense… try to spend some time to recoup mentally from the stress, along with give his fans some time to forget about it.

“I.. I guess I could take a day trip or something..” George states hesitantly.

_“Even if it's just spending time with your family… I think it would be good to get away.”_

George laughed lightly. “I am _not_ going to go see my family.”

Speaking of family… George didn’t really talk to his. They weren’t exactly on the best of terms…? I mean- there was no conflict between them. They just didn’t exactly keep contact. Not to mention George had a little bit of a rocky relationship with them because they both wanted George to go into some sort of “ideal job” like being a lawyer or a doctor… something “smart”. Youtube… didn’t really reflect that. And even though George was having fun with it, he couldn’t help but feel like his parents were disappointed in him. 

So they just didn’t talk.

_“I guess that's fine, just keep me and Sapnap updated on where you end up going alright? Maybe send us a few pictures or something.”_

George chuckles lightly. “Don’t worry- I will.”

_“Alright then.. I think I am going to go ahead and hang up now to let you sleep. don’t worry about twitter.. We have it handled.”_

“Okay Dream,”

_“And George?”_

“Yeah?”

_“You’re going to be alright… Just- call if you need anything,”_

George sighs. “Thanks Dream.. Goodnight,” 

_“Goodnight George,”_ And with that, the call ended. Leaving the twitter app open on Georges phone, the haunting picture openly on display.

George's breath catches at the sight, as he frowns. Staring for a moment he pulls his eyes away as he shuts his phone off and sets it down on the floor next to him. He listens to the silence as he sits in the middle of the hallway of his empty… quiet… half lit apartment.

**_God- He felt so alone._ **

* * *

_“... Someone actually was following him! They tried to follow him home.. God. What if something actually happened?”_

_“Well- what do you expect us to do Dream? Might I remind you, you are located thousands of miles away. George is a big boy, he can manage himself… he will be okay,”_

_“I… I just don’t like the idea of him getting hurt.. especially since he’s all alone Sap- there’s nobody there with him,”_

_“...I know, Dream,”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D 
> 
> Someone just got DOXXED >:)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated! I almost always respond to comments, and I really enjoy longer ones so I can talk about minor details or discussing your theories!! -without spoiling things of course ;) 
> 
> I might or might not have some.... plans. ..for the future...


	6. We're just friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOAH?!?!? WHO AM I? POSTING WITHIN 2 DAYS- WHAT?!?!
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!!! Disclaimer: I am from the US! and I have never traveled outside the US... So, there is a HIGH CHANCE I got some stuff wrong in this chapter when it came to London and Brighton... I tried my best- but I feel like a decent amount of it was guesswork and might be just stereotypical.. Idk, I hope you guys like the chapter anyway... 
> 
> And as always... THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY EPIC BETA READER KiyoshiUnknown!!!

The next morning George was hastily packing a day bag to catch the 8am train to Brightton. The night before he uh- Didn’t really get much sleep. But, considering the circumstances that wasn’t really a surprise now was it? George grabbed a water bottle, wallet, laptop, headphones, jacket- really anything that he could think of that could be of use. He didn't really go on day trips, like, ever. So, he felt a little inexperienced in getting prepared for the day ahead.

At least he was about to do something exciting.

While he was hesitant about the whole idea the night before.. In the morning after waking up with only a few hours of sleep George was surprisingly… excited. He never really went on impromptu trips like this, let alone trips at all. For the most part his days consisted of the same thing over and over again. So the idea of actually taking some time off to go do something fun was- well, exiting. 

He already had it planned out. Once he got there he most likely was going to go on a walk down to the beach side, hang out of a little bit, before going out to a restaurant to eat. He already contacted Sapnap and Dream, but he planned on calling them during lunch. After lunch, he planned on just walking around, seeing what other fun things he could do before he caught the 7pm train back to London.

Zipping up his bag, George swings it around one of his shoulders, shuts the lights off in his apartment, closes the door and locks it behind him.

Once outside, the cool September air brushes against his cheek. He pulls out his phone, and shoots his friends a text.

**George:** I am heading out to Brighton for the day! catching the 7am train now

After a moment, George moves to put his phone away but then it suddenly dings once, then twice, then a third time.

**Dream:** have fun georgie!

**Sapnap:** make sure to check both ways before you cross the street! 

**Dream:** let us know when you want to call

George smiles at his friends lighthearted responses, before typing out a quick message in response. He then puts his phone away just as he arrives at the train station. From there George buys himself a two way ticket, and boards himself onto the 7am train to Brighton.

_ Everything was going to be fine. _

* * *

  
  


After the hour long train ride George found himself walking out of the Brighton train station, examining his surroundings. Brighton was… to put it shortly… beautiful. The air was clean, and the town overall had a homey feel to it. Sky bright, and the shops lining the street seemed to consist more of little small businesses rather than the big designer shops you would find in London. Overall, Brighton was less crowded too.

George plugs in the nearest beach access into his GPS and starts to follow the map within his phone. As he walked down the street, he completely zoned out- not paying attention to the people around him. He kept his head down, while walking down the street when suddenly a voice pierced through his thoughts.

“Good morning!” The voice said chipperly.

George jumps slightly, eyes looking up to match the blonde haired woman who was standing by a store front smiling and waving. George hesitated- before sheepishly waving back with a slight waver in his voice.

“H-hi..?”

He moved to turn back to where he was going, to move on- but when he turned, he practically ran straight into a couple holding hands as they walked down the street. They jumped back in slight surprise.

“O-oh! I’m sorry!” The women spoke. “Didn’t mean to run into you like that honey-“ she stated as the two of them maneuvered around George. George grimaced.

“Sorry-“ 

“Not your fault, have a nice day!” The man said and then they proceeded to walk away. 

George, baffled, cautiously checked where he was walking before continuing on to his destination. People were so… nice? Here? Yeah, one of the peoples kind greetings might have caused him to be distracted… but in London nobody pays attention to anyone while you walk down the street. Not to mention, if you run into anyone- you’re bound to get a response like; “watch it kid” or “look where you are going!” Almost never an apology… especially when it was obviously  _ his fault.  _

George’s heart brightens. It was really nice to have the change in pace, really. The people walking down the street have him no ill feelings whatsoever. Thinking of the previous days, George checks behind him.

There was nothing.

George smiles. Of course there was nothing. He was in a safe place there was nothing to worry about.

Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

“What do you- DREAM! I know how to talk to people!”

The two voices from his phone burst out laughing while George turned to face the ocean and smiled, blue shores shimmering back at him. Surprisingly, it had been sunny all day in Brighton, which heavily contrasts England's normal weather of cloudy rain- but, that's okay, the sun matched the mood George was feeling. 

He sat on the patio of a seaside restaurant, fish and chips on a plate in front of him. Dream and Sapnap were on call with him, just like they had planned to this morning. Sapnap had facecam on whilst Dreams avatar was sitting there in the corner of the call. Dream still never turned on his facecam… which he would hate to say was upsetting a little bit, but- George was used to it, so it wasn’t really a problem. Overall, Dreams laughs and sarcastic comments were enough, so George was just happy that he was his friend to begin with, even if he didn’t show his face.

Since they had hopped on call all they had done was made jokes and sarcastic comments to one another… None of them even bothered to bring up twitter or the stranger from a week ago- not wanting to kill the mood. 

George watches as Sapnap leans back in his chair, twiddling a pencil in between his fingers  _ “You know you say that, but then you are the one that literally told us 5 minutes ago while you were on the beach you saw some women with a Shiba Inu you started screaming ‘DOGE DOG! DOGE DOG!’” _

Dream wheezed at Sapnaps impression of George while George’s mouth hung open. In George’s opinion, Sapnaps impersonation was TERRIBLE. He made his voice all squeaky and stupid… it was just- wrong.

“Sapnap! I do NOT sound like that-”

_ “I dO nOt SoUnD LiKe tHaT!” _ Sapnap mocked- and Dream absolutely lost it, spiraling down into a complete laughing fit. Even George himself was struggling, turning his head away as he rested his mouth in his hand- trying to stifle any sort of giggles that might escape his chest. 

After a moment of everyone regaining their composure, a happy silence settled between them. Then, once he could make sure he could breathe again, Dream changed the subject, asking George a more general question. 

_ “How’s the beach by the way? Have you been enjoying it so far?” _

George turned to face the phone, smiling at Dreams' question. He had his camera on along with Sapnap, so they could see his expressions and surroundings.

“It’s good- the people here are really nice for the most part. Not as cranky as they are in London. I think that's partly because people aren’t in a rush to go places. Uhh… The beach is.. Pretty. Blue- Also, it's sunny outside, so the sky is blue as well,” He shrugs, looking at the camera.

“Here-” George proceeds to pick up his phone and flip the camera around, before walking to the edge of the patio to project the camera outwards to look at the stretching ocean in front of him. He then points at the ocean.

“Look- water,”

Dream starts to laugh again and George flips the camera around to face himself as he sits down by his food once more. His face hurt from smiling so much, and his heart fluttered at his friends' laughs. 

_ “George you are so stupid-” _ Dream said through his giggles, then sapnap started to move on his screen.

_ “George, George, Look-” _ He picks something up from offscreen, and then holds it up to the camera, revealing it to be a clear glass of water. Sapnap points to it.  _ “Water,” _

“What-” George Laughs, “Are you  _ mocking  _ me?” George states, emphasizing the word ‘mocking’ with a funny tone.

_ “Yes Georgette. I am. Don’t get your panties all tied up in a knot because of it,” _

“SAPNAP!” George states bursting out laughing along with both of his friends.

* * *

George ended up staying on call with Dream and Sapnap for a lot longer than intended. After having food with them on call, he ended up walking around town with them showing them the beachside along with random little shops with his camera (lets just say, thank god he brought his good headphones). A couple people might have looked at him funny considering the weird stuff he was saying to himself, but, he didn’t really seem to mind. It was a lot of fun talking to Dream and Sapnap. So them taking the time out of their day to call him meant the world to him. In total, about 5 hours of the day was spent on call, and after he hung up he only had a short time to himself before he hopped on the afternoon train back to London. 

Boarding the train he got one more text from Dream, which he glanced at, typing up a quick response before putting his phone away and taking a seat in the corner of the train.

**Dream:** hope u had fun today, we should call tomorrow to make think about recording something for your channel. if you are up for it that is

**George:** Sure thing, I should be good

He sighed, resting back in his chair. Today had been a great day, to say the least. Brighton was a nice place, it was a pretty town with a lot of fun things to do- not only that, but he also got to talk on call with his best friends for hours- hearing Dream heavenly laughs where he sounds like he is absolutely dying with Sapnap pulls out another ruthless joke.. It made the day that much better. 

As he sat on the train, he sat in silence, that is, until he glanced up to see a woman had just taken up the seat across the way from him. The woman seemed to be in distress, eyes red rimmed as she sniffled… staring down in her hands. 

Nobody else was near them. Most people tended to sit in the middle or the front of the train. George retreated to the back to try and stay away from people actually, and it seemed like this woman had attempted to do the same. The silence as she silently cried stretched longer- until it reached an unbearably uncomfortable amount. George twiddled his thumbs, not exactly sure what to do.. He wasn’t  _ good  _ with social interaction. But, he did have some form of human decency. His brows furrowed to ones of concern as he glanced over to the woman, finding a voice within himself. 

“Are… are you alright..?” 

The woman jumps slightly, looking up at George. She blinks, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket.

“O-oh.. I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to bother you...”

“You’re fine, I was just checking to see if you were alright..”

The woman smiles, as she tries to compose herself. You see, when George first interacted with this woman, he assumed it would be some sort of shorter interaction, that would last maybe a minute or two. Expecting that when he asked if she was okay, he would immediately be brushed off with the woman's reassurances of being fine. What he  _ didn’t  _ expect was for the women to open up to him fully. 

“Y-Yeah… I am alright..” She sniffles. “It’s just.. You see. Me and my fiance have been living together for the past year and all.. But due to work he is going to have to live in a completely different city than me.. and.. and that’s just kind of hard.. You know? We practically have been inseparable for so long- I just.. I don’t know. It’s hard to picture living without him for so long. We probably won’t see each other for at least a few months.. and..” a singular tear rolls down her cheek but she quickly swipes it away. 

George sighs, looking down at his hands. What does he even say to that? He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment, thinking of a semi proper response when the words just started rolling.

“Yeah.. I get what you mean. My friends live overseas- So most of my interactions with them is when I am on call with them, or through text. Heck, even today I called them to show them around Brighton.” He smiles, thinking fondly of their earlier phone call. “I guess, you just got to just take it one day at a time. Enjoy the moment, and spend time with them? Just... try not to worry about the distance between the two of you.”

The woman smiles at him, brushing her own hair out of her face. “Thank you..” She states, before looking back over him. “So, you’ve dealt with long distance relationships before?”

George’s eyes shoot up to meet hers as his face heats up slightly- breath catching.

“What? No!” He chuckles nervously “Just friends. My friends live overseas,”

The woman raises an eyebrow at him, smiling at George's reaction… as confusing as it was. 

“... Alright…” She states, letting her tone voice her skepticism. “Well.. Thank you for the advice- and checking up on me..”

George rubs the back of his neck with his hand, looking down at the floor. “Not a problem.. Just keep your head high. Things will start looking up soon enough,”

The woman nods, thanking him once more before she turns away with a smile on her face. George on the other hand runs a hand through his hair. What the fuck was that? Maybe Dream and Sapnap were right, he was terrible with interacting with people. But what the fuck warrented that sort of reaction? 

Saying that George was confused with himself was an understatement. What even made her think he had a long distance relationship- he said friends didn’t he? He racked his brain, he  _ definitely _ said friends. But even if he did, why did he feel the need to be so defensive. It’s not like it mattered. She didn’t know who his friends were. So she had no idea who he was thinking about.

George knew who he was thinking about.

But the world didn’t know who he was thinking about. They were just friends. So it didn’t matter.

Yeah. 

Just friends.

George leans back in his train seat, relaxing as he tried to just push aside those sudden flustered thoughts, focusing in on reminiscing on the fun day he had had- listening to the train chug on, bringing him back home.

  
Today  _ had  _ been a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha... FLUFFY CHAPTER WOOOO...
> 
> This is fine (:
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!! I LOVE seeing comments of people's theories or just people coming to say hi! I always try to reply within 24 hours of the comment. And seeing feedback helps motivates me to get the next chapter out faster... (and it keeps me from doubting myself lmao.. cause let's be real, I am a pro at that.) See you guys in the next one!
> 
> Edit: Also, I forgot to mention... should I make a discord...? I've seen people do that before but idk if thats a good idea LMAO- if nobody says anything imma just delete this edit in a couple hours hahaha


	7. Don't worry, I am alway covering your 6'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! PLEASE READ BEFORE GOING ANY FATHER INTO THIS FIC:
> 
> Alright. Here's the thing. I don’t really want to do trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter, or in the middle of text. Simply because, I don’t want to ruin the surprise or the suspense with having a warning at the beginning or a break in the text… PLEASE check the tags above, I am trying to keep it as broad as possible while at the same time as keeping it as accommodating as possible. I don’t want to spoil anything- but I don’t want to accidentally trigger someone either. So, take this as your trigger warning for the REST OF THE FIC.
> 
> FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD- YOU ARE AT RISK FOR:  
> -Graphic Description of Violence  
> -Panic attacks  
> -Stalkers  
> -Possibility of Major character Death  
> -Possibility of Character death of any sorts  
> -Disassociation  
> -Weapons
> 
> NOW!! I am trying to keep these as broad as possible… and some of it might be more of a red herring… so. If you have ANY SORT OF TRIGGER- that you can’t deal with, and you want me to CONFIRM or DENY for sure if it is included in the fic… Please comment below. If you state “I have a serious trigger of _____… Is it in the fic?” I will confirm or deny it for you because all in all your guys' health means more to me than the secrecy and suspense of the story. But, If I can I would like to try and keep as much of it anonymous as possible…
> 
> Thanks for understanding!!! Enjoy the new chapter!!!

Arriving back in London was… Something.

First off, it was after dark. Which was absurd in its own way, because George almost never traveled after dark (Mainly because… regretfully, George didn’t really go outside to begin with). Second off, on the  _ rare  _ occasion George was outside after dark, he was always with friends.

But, no matter- he was a big boy so it was fine.

George exited the train station to be greeted by the London city lights, shining as bright as ever. People were buzzing around (as always) so George quickly fit himself within the crowd. Walking with a slightly slower cadence than normal, George had to admit that he was a little tired despite the fact it was just past 8pm. It made sense though, George had a pretty eventful day to say the least… and oh, how much fun it was. Between the phone call with friends, the sightseeing by the ocean, Brighton was actually a lot of fun. But- there would time to reminisce later, and as George rounded the corner he made a beeline to his apartment complex. 

* * *

  
  


Making his way up the steps to his door George tugged on the railing of the stairway lightly to help pull him forward. The walk itself only took like 5 minutes, but on tired legs it felt like an eternity… And on top of that… the stairs up to his apartment? Brutal.

Reaching the top of the steps within the fluorescently lit hallway, George stopped at his door and pulled his keychain out of his pocket. He fumbled with the keys before grabbing a hold of the silver one with a circular base, pressing it into the lock before twisting, unlocking his apartment door. 

Stepping inside George shuffled, first taking off his book bag and setting it down on a nearby bench, which allowed him to take off his jacket as well, hanging it up on the coat rack.

George's apartment was pitch dark for the most part, which was expected considering it was the way past nightfall. George reflexively reaches his hand to the wall in the darkness and flicks the light switch before kneeling down to untie his shoes.

Beginning to untie his shoe George worked mindlessly before a familiar sense of anxiety began to lightly creep up his back. George slowed in his task, taking a moment to realize an unnerving fact that didn’t register within the first moments of its occurring…

**_The lights didn’t turn on._ **

George straightened himself leaving his shoes half untied as he moved to test the light switch again.

Flick.

Nothing.

An uneasiness sets in Georges stomach, he flipped the switch a few more times to be met with the same result- before he inevitably gave up. It’s not like George had never been in a power out before… In fact, he had been through quite a few through his 23 years of livelihood. The thing that was unnerving to him, was the fact that from what it seemed like, nobody else in his building had a power out. On his way to his flat, all the lights were on, and all of the elevators were in functioning order.

Maybe the power out literally just happened?

George would have turned around and gone back into the hallway to check, but something else caught his eye before he had the chance.

Looking down the hallway of his apartment he realized that it wasn’t completely pitch dark.

Because there was an illuminated aura creeping around the corner, seeming to be coming from the main room.

George tensed up as he held his breath.

It was a faint light, but looking down the hall it was definitely there… it wasn’t a powerful enough light to be from one of the ceiling lights- heck, not even powerful enough to be from a lamp… it was much softer than that.

George reached into his pocket with shaky hands, pulling out his phone and turning on its flashlight to illuminate the hallway in front of him better.

This was his apartment.

He had to check.

Otherwise, who else will?

Nobody. Because he was all alone.

_ Right? _

George, squeezing his phone tightly as he hesitantly takes slow steps down the hallway as he takes shaky, steady breaths.

Step.

Step.

Inhale.

_ This is fine. This is fine. This is fine. _

Step.

Step.

Exhale.

_ Power outs are common. When have you ever been afraid of the dark? _

Step.

Step.

George meets the end of the hallway, allowing him to peer into the opening of his living room and kitchen.

And... the sight before him made his anxiety about 100x worse. 

On the coffee table in his living room was the source of the light. 3 red candles of slightly varying heights would stand in a clump together, and leaning against the candles would be a white envelope, stamped together with a big red circle that could be assumed to be made of wax.

George stood frozen, unable to move. That for sure was  **_not_ ** there before he had left his house this morning. Fear and anxiety were grabbing at both of his wrists and he hadn’t even touched the strange envelope yet. He felt shaky, and nauseous- maybe a little dizzy as well? It was hard to process the way he was feeling when only one sentence- one fact- crossed through his mind.

**_Someone broke into my house._ **

It was the only thing that made logical sense. George knew for a  **_fact_ ** that he didn’t just  _ forget _ about leaving something like that in the middle of his living room. It was just impossible. The only way that there could be something like that left in his living room, is if  _ someone else did it.  _

And that opened a whole other door of questions and fears.

How did they get in? The door was locked- did they use a window? A copy of his key? Who was it? What did they want? Why  _ him- _

George probably should have called the authorities, should have turned around and walked out of his apartment. Maybe called his parents- despite the terms that they were on- considering that they were the closest people to him, that might be able to help him.

But he needed to figure out what the note was.

After standing in frozen panic for what felt like hours, George managed to push down his anxiety as much as he could to convince his body forward; closer to the strange item in question.

  
  


Step.

  
  


Step.

  
  


Inhale.

  
  


Step.

  
  


Step.

  
  


Exhale.

  
  


Step.

  
  


George reaches the coffee table. Holding his phone with his left hand George uses his right to shakily pick up the envelope. It was clean, pure, despite the big red wax marking holding it closed. Setting down his phone on the table, George uses both of his trembling hands to pull at the seal of the letter. With slight resistance, George managed to rip the envelope open, revealing a neatly folded white paper inside its interior. 

Taking one more shaky breath, George pulls the paper out of the envelope to unfold it, revealing dark red… handwritten letters.

**_George,_ **

**_Let's get right to the point. It has come to my attention that you, George, seem to spend an awful lot of time with my Dearest, Dream. So much so, you are tainting his worldview in a negative way, distracting him from his true purpose. So, I am going to need to request you to remove yourself from his life- effective immediately. If you refuse to comply with these terms… there will be consequences- Which will result in you meeting your bitter end._ **

**_Farewell,_ **

**_Nightmare_ **

George felt light-headed.

It was too much.

The paper in his hand filtered down as it slowly fell to the ground. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, his mind empty but racing- overwhelmed? Overloaded-

It took him over a minute to realize it wasn’t just his hands shaking, but his whole body.

It took him another minute to realize that the reason why the edges of his vision were turning black was because he wasn’t breathing.

George was panicking.

Panicking. Panicking.  _ Panicking.  _ **_Panicking._ **

George lowers himself to the ground, leaning himself back up against the side of the couch just as the first sob erupts from his chest. 

Somebody broke into his house- and whoever it was- wanted him  **_dead._ **

He was shaking like a leaf, and at that moment he felt so so weak. His breathing uneven, and his mind was just scattered. He couldn’t come up with any sort of cognitive train of thought.

He didn’t know what to do.

He didn’t know what to say.

He didn’t know where to go.

He wished he knew why this was happening.

He wished his friends were here.

He wished Dream was here.

He-.....

  
  


_ Dream. _

The one person he normally told everything to- his best friend- The person that would make him smile even if he was having a bad day, the one person that would make his chest warm at his laugh which was contagious.

He needed to talk to Dream.

George blinked some tears away as he moved to grab his phone off the coffee table. With shaky hands and a blurry vision, he unlocked his phone and somehow managed to find Dreams contact. His finger hovered over the button with slight hesitancy for a moment- he felt like there might be a reason as to why he shouldn't call Dream… but his mind was too hazy and panicked to find out. 

He pressed the call button.

**_Please pick up-_ **

**_Please pick up-_ **

**_Please pick up-_ **

_ “-eorge…?” _

George lets out a sob in relief in response. He meant there to be words- and explanation- but he just couldn’t. He was barely holding onto the strings of his mind and body; essentially, he was a complete wreck.

_ “Woah woah woah woah-“  _ Dream’s voice quickly shifted, calm demeanor gone- his voice was laced with concern along with a slight panicky edge. “George what’s wrong- what happened?”

George tried to breathe but his chest felt tight. George tried to speak but his throat was closed. He held the phone tightly to his ear as he let the tears roll down his cheeks. Dream had to have realized that George was panicking- that he couldn’t breathe- because the next few orders from Dream were exactly what he needed to do.

_ “George, um, I need you to take a deep breath for me alright? Please? Can you do that? Try in for three out for three okay? George?”  _

George shakily inhaled. Trying to elongate it as much as possible to match Dreams instructions. Once Dream realized that George was actually listening to him he continued to talk George through it. One step at a time, in for three out for three. After minutes of this mundane interaction, George finally started to somewhat calm down. His anxiety still at an all-time high but yet he was coming off his panic attack. 

The coaching of his friend had helped immensely. In fact, without him on the phone, it probably would have taken him at least twice as long to calm himself down. 

He still felt weak, drained- but his brain wasn’t reeling at a million miles a minute anymore. He could now pull so sort of cognitive thought. His hands were still shaking, but they were manageable.

His throat was tight, but it wasn’t closed off.

A tense silence sat between George and Dream over the phone line, he still needed to explain himself.

“... d- dream…?” His voice came out scratchy. He winced, he didn’t really expect that, even though he probably should have. He was light-headed from exertion and his throat was raw from sobbing and trying to force some sort of air into his lungs.

_ “... are you okay now?”  _ Dream asks softly, fear and concern evident.

George wanted to answer yes, but he really couldn’t- could he? George let out another sob, before pressing a hand over his eyes. He wills himself to speak.

“dream- i… i- i… s-someone.”

_ “Deep breaths George- there’s no rush.” _

George takes a big shaky breath. He had to tell Dream.

“s-s-someone.. t-they broke in-into my- uh- my- hous-se” George said with a trembling voice, he grips the phone tighter as a shudder wracks his body. His friend on the other side of the line had fell silent, surprisingly, allowing George to continue.

“th-they left a n-note.. on it- on it- they.. they said they- they want to kill m-me..”

_ “George they aren’t still there are they? They are gone- right? They aren’t there.”  _ Dream stated, starting off firm but his voice edged off into a plea at the end.

George sniffled, wiping some tears away. “I- I think so.” He takes another deep breath.

_ “Why- wh- why would they want to kill you? Why? Did they say why?”  _ Dream started with urgency, the first question seemed to be Dream just talking to himself, but the more he talked the more it seemed to actually be aimed at George.

George thought for a moment- why did they want to kill him again? There was a reason- George knew that there was a set reason as to why…

And then it hit him.

George’s heart sank, the one thing the note said was to stop talking to Dream- and then the first thing that George did? He talked to Dream about it- 

He sobbed again.

“D-Dream. They want to kill me because I talk to y-you.” George said quietly.. as if talking quietly would hide the fact that he was, in fact, talking to Dream.

Dream stayed silent for a moment.

_ “I’m coming to London.” _

George’s body stopped shaking out of shock, and his mind stilled for a moment. Out of all the things that he thought his friend was going to say- that was not one of them.

**_“What.”_ **

_ “You heard me- I’m coming over there.”  _ George could hear some rustling on Dreams end as he seemed to be moving from one location to another.

“Dream- You-“

_ “-George.”  _ Dream interrupted.  _ “I’m not okay with you being all alone right now. I’m coming.” _

George’s mouth closes. His original plans to protest were thrown out the window. Because honestly? George  _ didn’t  _ want to be alone right now. Not when everything was going so wrong. And the idea of Dream actually being there with him?  _ To actually have someone there with him-  _ He subconsciously decided he was going to jump on the opportunity. 

They sat in silence, allowing George to recollect himself further while Dream had seemed to reach his computer, and was typing away on his keyboard. Suddenly, Dream broke the silence. 

_ “I will be there around 5PM tomorrow.” _

George sighs, leaning up against the couch in a daze. Feeling a little safer than earlier, he seemed to be coming off the worst of his anxiety. Which left him drained both physically and mentally. 

“Okay.” He said in addressing Dream.

_ “Look, I have to get ready to go to the airport alright? I- You probably should call the police or something. I assume you haven’t yet?” _

George winces, why hadn’t he thought of that? That probably should have been the first thing he had done. But, no matter, he couldn’t really change the past.

“No.. I haven’t.”

_ “You probably should do that. You swear after I hang up you’ll do that?” _

George nods, before realizing that Dream can’t actually see him. “Yeah, I will.”

_ “Okay, Good.”  _ Dream pauses for a moment, letting the silence stretch out for a few seconds.  _ “Hey George?” _

“Yeah?”

_ “I am going to be there soon. You’re going to be fine.” _

George doesn’t respond at first. Should he be worried that Dream is coming?

“Thanks Dream,”

_ “No problem. I will see you soon.” _

“See you soon.”

And with that, Dream hung up. George let the phone flop to the floor, looking up at the dimly lit ceiling… That's right. The lights aren't still on. He looks over at the floor beside him, and sees the haunting letter in red lying lazily on the floor.

He shudders.

George would have started crying again if he had the energy too. Instead, he moved to grab his phone again, then proceeded to dial his local police station.

Hitting call he held the phone up to his ear, and while it rang he sighed.

**_Everything is going to be fine. Dream is coming to save him._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its only up from here!!.... Right...? 
> 
> Please, if you feel like it, I would love to see some comments! Whether it is critiques, theories, or even simply stopping by to stay hi I just LOVE seeing your guyses feedback. I almost always reply within 24 hours... and honestly, seeing people so excited (or nervous lmaoo) makes me want to finish the next chapter quicker to see your guyses reactions haha. I hope I don't sound like I am begging for likes or comments or whatever- because that's not my intention. I just love interacting with people,, it makes me really happy haha. Dont feel obliged to do anything!! but if you feel like it!!
> 
> Have an awesome day guys!


	8. And to think... I actually thought I would never get to see you..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!
> 
> I had MAJOR writers block for the majority of this chapter... which is not pog... so- sorry in advance if it is just cringe or overall bad lmao... I tried my best, and the encouragement of my friends and your guises comments definitely helped push me along. 
> 
> But... Here it is! Enjoy- I have a tw at the very bottom of the chapter in the end notes (because some of you suggested to do that.) so if you NEED to check for trigger warnings go check there... but, if you can withhold from looking that would be great cause looking at the tw will spoil the chapter. 
> 
> ALSO DREAM TEAM + KARL WON MCC I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW YESSSSSSSSSS 
> 
> And lastly... I love my beta reader KiyoshiUnknown they are the best thank you so so much <3

The police investigation went like this;

Three officers arrived within a half hour after calling. One of the officers pulled George aside to hear his story again in detail while the other two spent the time to examine the “evidence” along with the rest of George’s flat. They found the reason for the power outage to be the breaker needing to be reset. 

George, still shaken up by the rather terrifying night, tried to tell his story in as much detail as possible. Between the first day of being followed all the way up to finding the note in his apartment receding a day in Brighton. The officer listening to his story would occasionally write down notes and ask questions, but otherwise would let George speak while giving him an unreadable look.

A little bit later the other two officers would link up with George and their companion to give them the rundown of what they had found and the conclusion was this; after looking around there seemed to be no point of forceful entry. No items of George’s were broken, touched, or stolen. The evidence provided had no prints that could be traced to anyone other than George- and the handwriting on the letter was untraceable as well. From there, the officer doing the interview added in what he had heard from George stating that with the physical evidence of there being a breakin, there was no way to prove George's statements. To the officers the note that was supposidly left behind was absurd, and seemed as fake as fuck. Even George’s statements about being followed days prior meant nothing because there was no actual way to  _ prove  _ that actually happened.

So, to put it shortly, they told him there was nothing they could do.

Even though it seemed that the officers were convinced that George's claims were either a simple misunderstanding or some sort of elaborate prank, they didn’t completely want to disregard George's claims completely. So, before officially parting ways, they told him that if something were to happen again, contact them immediately.

**_…George wasn’t sure he was going to take them up on that offer._ **

It was rather infuriating actually. The fact that after calling in for some help, they basically came in and disproved most of his claims- called him delusional- then just parted ways within a couple hours. The problem of the matter was that George was  _ certain  _ that all of this was real. That there  _ actually  _ was someone that broke into his house. George knows he's not crazy, and it was absurd for the police to think he actually was.

_ At least, he was pretty sure he wasn’t crazy- _

No matter. George had other things to worry about... A lot had happened and, looking back at it now, even without being in a midst of a panic attack it was hard for George to process. Between the fact that someone wanted him  **_dead_ ** .. The police didn’t believe him,  _ AND _ the fact that Dream was going to be in the UK in about _ … 9 hours- _

There was a lot to think about.

First off, you would expect George to be still in a constant state of panic with all things considered but surprisingly, George felt alright… He was pretty tired, but that could be the result of not sleeping the night before. The police left in the middle of the night, and between that time and daybreak he spent the rest of his time cleaning up his flat in preparation of Dream arriving soon.

Now, at around 10am, George was sitting slouched on his couch with the TV mumbling on in the background as he contemplated what he wanted to pass the time. 

Normally at this time he was either on call with his friends or playing minecraft. But, with Dream in the middle of his fight, there was no way he was going to be able to play. George wasn’t about to play alone either.

Speaking of Dream, George was excited for his friend's upcoming arrival. He was a little nervous too, but this was the first time he would see his friend in person. So the situation warranted for him to have that sort of emotion. Especially considering George had no idea what Dream looked like.

…  _ hopefully he’s pretty. _

**_What the fuck?_ **

George falters as he catches himself in his own thoughts. What the hell was wrong with him- ‘hopefully he’s pretty’? What was that- George shook his head at himself. They were just friends. They enjoyed each other's company. Dream was coming to the UK because George might possibly be in active danger, not to actually see him and hang out with him. If Dream wanted to come to the UK to hang out he would have done it already. Dream is solely coming to make sure he wasn’t dead or some crap. Probably because he felt obligated to do so, because under any other circumstance, George couldn’t find a reason as to why he would even consider making the trip to London. 

George glances over at his phone sitting on the coffee table. Normally, by now he would have tried texting him at least once. But, checking the time again, Dream would be in the middle of trying to board his flight, which means he probably shouldn’t be a bother. 

But... There was someone else he could contact.

George reaches over and grabs his phone, quickly scrolling through his contacts before pressing call.

It only rings about twice before he gets an answer.

_ “George!”  _ A voice exclaimed, slight worry in their tone.

“Sapnap! How are you?”

_ “How am I doing- How are  _ **_you_ ** _? Are you okay- were the police able to help??”  _

George scoffed, _ ‘were the police able to help’-  _ They didn’t do jack shit. 

“Yeah, Sapnap, I am fine. The police said there wasn’t enough evidence to do anything about the breakin-”   
  
_ “Not enough evidence? That's a load of bullshit. Someone literally broke into your house!” _ Sapnap exclaimed.

“I know-” George hesitated, “Wait. How did you even know about someone breaking in...? I- uh, never got to tell you,”

_ “Well Dream called me last night- He was pretty worried about you. I considered contacting you myself but Dream said you were probably busy talking with the police. Did you manage to see who broke in?” _

George grimaces, lip pressing into a thin line. “No… unfortunately not. They left a letter though…” George glances at the now empty coffee table, now devoid of any creepy letters. 

_ “A letter?” _

George chuckled nervously. “Yeah. A letter,” He thought for a moment while Sapnap waited for him to elaborate further. “It was set up all neat in the middle of my living room. The note inside was written in red ink basically telling me I am not allowed to talk to Dream anymore,”

**_“What?”_ ** Sapnap stated, exasperated. 

“I know. Said that if I don’t comply there will be consequences though,” 

George was a little surprised in himself, the way that he was able to talk so freely and nonchalantly about it… the night before George could barely even think about it without instigating his panic. Now, he was almost speaking as if he was talking about some dumb teenage drama with one of his mates just like back in highschool.

_ “... isn’t Dream going to be in the UK in a couple of hours though..?” _

“Yeah he is,” George smiles as he picks at the couch cushion he found himself sitting at. It still baffled him that Dream was going to be in London in a couple of hours. He felt his stomach twist in slight nerves.

_ “Well… Are you excited?” _ Sapnap stated with a slight hint of playfulness in his tone.

“I’m nervous,” 

_ “Don’t be nervous. Look, just picture a tan Florida man with blonde hair and green eyes and then, BOOM! You got Dream. He won’t be that hard to find,” _

George laughs at Sapnap’s obvious joke before sobering a little bit as he lets his mind run. “It’s not just that.. it’s that- what if he doesn’t like seeing me in person…?Or- or- what if he thinks I’m annoying or more of a burden or whatever..? what if- he just hates me or-“

_ “That’s not going to happen George. You’re going to be fine. Dream is going to like you for who you are. We are all best friends. And hanging out online or in person doesn’t change that,” _

Sapnap’s statement was sincere, George sighs, taking in Sapnap’s comments. He thinks back to the warnings on the letter from the night before..

“What if… by having Dream come here I am just putting him in danger- the note specifically said that I wasn’t allowed to contact Dream-” He laughs blankly at himself “and what’s the first thing I did? I contacted Dream,“ he sighs, pressing a hand to his face “God I’m such an idiot,”

_ “It was Dream's choice to come wasn’t it? I don’t see how that is your fault-” _

“I shouldn’t have told him! I specifically wasn’t supposed to tell him- And yet I still did…”  **_and I am not sure I can forgive myself if god forbid something actually happened to him-_ **

_ “George. You guys will be fine, you guys will have eachothers backs. Don’t worry,”  _

George nods, sighing, “Yeah.. Thanks Sapnap,”

_ “It's no problem, and hey, be sure to contact me later okay? I need to go to class now, but I am free all evening,” _

George smiles a little. What a nerd, still in school, “Sure thing, Sappitus Nappitus. Talk to you later,”

_ “See ya,” _ And with that, Sapnap hung up. 

Post call, George dropped his phone onto the couch right beside him, sighing. Glancing at the clock he still had hours before he needed to start heading to the airport and the all-nighter from the night before was finally starting to get to him.

George continued to watch TV to pass the time… but eventually George found himself sprawled out horizontally along the couch cushions, and with time... the world slowly faded away into a sleepy bliss. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


  
  


Hours later George awoke to the sound of a sudden alarm going off.

Startled, George  _ almost _ rolled off the couch onto the carpeted floor on accident, but he quickly caught himself. He must have fallen asleep on accident… because it wasn’t really his intention to pass out in such an uncomfortable spot. Not that he was upset necessarily, he probably needed the sleep anyway.

Searching for the noise George rummaged through the couch including between the cushions. Eventually finding his phone, George blinks as he attempts to turn off the alarm. After the noise had ceased Geroge looked over to the clock to try and remember why he set the alarm in the first place. 

_ 4:15 _

Shit. That's right. Dream would be here in less than an hour. He needed to head to the airport. 

George sprang into action, jumping off the couch and reaching for the remote to turn off the TV. He then went to the bathroom to quickly brush out his bed head before slipping on his shoes and coat, heading out the door.

Once outside, George was met by a cold breeze. It wasn’t insanely cold, but without a jacket it probably would have been uncomfortable. 

George walked down the street at a brisk pace checking his clock again. 4:37. He could walk to the airport, but he would definitely be late… which was something Geroge didn’t want to be during Dreams first time in London. So, George thought of the next best thing walking to the edge of the street to flag down the next available taxi.

In less than a minute a yellow vehicle pulled up next to George and he quickly hopped inside, instructing the driver to head to the airport. The man in the driver's seat complied, pulling away from the curbside and into the midst of traffic.

George leaned up against the window, watching cars pass by on the other side of the street. After a moment he thought to text Dream to let him know he was on his way, even though Dream wouldn’t get it until he landed.

**George:** Hey I am on my way to the airport now. Can’t wait to see you!

George sighs, putting his phone back into his pocket as he continued to look out the window. It still baffled him that Dream was seriously coming to London… What was he even going to say when they first met up? Was it going to be awkward? Do they hug? Or does he just say hi- maybe a handshake?

**_What are the boundaries of meeting your best friend for the first time in person._ **

The Taxi would pull up to the line at a stop light, just missing the cut off of the line of cars before them. George glanced over at the driver who was dusting off his dash while waiting at the red light. The moment it turned green however the driver looked back straight ahead, pressing on the gas to propel the car forward. George turns his attention back to the window…

  
  


… and that's when he saw it. 

  
  


George saw the lights of a black car speeding through the intersection at a line perpendicular to their own vehicle. 

He didn’t even have time to react- because in less than a blink of an eye the car made contact with the side of the Taxi. 

The impact sent the taxi spinning as the sounds of screeching tires, tearing metal, and deafening screams filled the air around him. Was he the one screaming? He wasn’t sure- but the question wouldn’t be answered because before he was given a moment to process there would be a second impact- Slamming George’s head straight into a hard surface on his left side. Then, all momentum stopped completely.

  
  
  
  


The world was silent other than a dull ring in George's ears.

  
  
  
  


Something was burning.

  
  
  
  


Water was trickling down the side of his face.

  
  
  
  
  


George tried to blink but even the attempt made him lethargic.

  
  
  
  
  


His vision was blurring at the edges.

  
  
  
  
  
  


And when he tried to breathe his chest was filled with a white hot pain.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


And then…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**_… There was nothing._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// car crash
> 
> Uhhh..... :)


	9. Your smile can be my band-aid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look- IM SORRY!!! 
> 
> I swear, I did NOT mean for this chapter to take as long as it did... I've had a hectic week in a half between halloween (I made my own costume!), Being hired for some freelance work, my english teacher deciding its a bright idea to assign TWO PROJECTS and then the election (WHICH IS STRESSFUL AS F U C K). I tried really hard to get this out asap as possible but life seemed to want to work against me this time round... which was probably the worst time cause I left you guys on a pretty bad cliffhanger (now maybe a little sorry,, considering I took so long. Although- still not that much c:) But, Its finally here!! I hope you guys enjoy! And I hope it meets your expectations... This chapter was actually a little rough for me to write cause I was feeling super illiterate, but luckily I had an AWESOME friend to look over my stuff and correct my grammatical errors..
> 
> I swear. it was worth it.

Everything was fuzzy.

  
  


_ “-in here!” Smoke was everywhere- movement pulling at the wall he was leaning up against... _

  
  


It felt as if his brain was empty, full of clouds, and as slow as molasses at the same time.. 

  
  


_...A mask was pulled over his face- forcing cool air into his stinging lungs... _

  
  


Sometimes there would be voices, or movements, but everything was too hazy- 

  
  


_..The blue sky above him disappeared as it was replaced by an enclosed white ceiling... _

  
  


-too broken… he couldn’t remember any of it- 

  
  


_ A light flashed in his eyes “..ir- can you hear me? What is your name-”  _

  
  


-Time went by all too fast...

  
  


_ “-orge… I am so sorry…” _

**… He couldn’t even think.**

  
  


* * *

  
  


  
  


The initial thing George was aware of was the steady beep filling the quiet air.

At first it was soft, practically unnoticeable… but as time went on it cut more and more into his dreams of nothingness.

The room he was in was really cold, the thin sheets on top of him barely giving him enough warmth. Except for his left hand, which was radiating warm energy from some unknown source. 

George wanted to open his eyes, but he was too lethargic… too tired to do so...

It was hard to fight the cloud that was fogging up his brain. Although, the more time George spent pushing against the fog, the clearer his mind became and with time things became sharper, leaving him in a new sense of awareness.

And it hurt.

To put it bluntly, it felt like he was hit by a train. His body ached with all sorts of unaccounted bruises and pains. Breathing hurt, and his head pounded as he tried to focus more intently on the world around him.

George was confused- he couldn’t remember why the fuck he was feeling this way… he feels like he must be missing something. 

He slowly blinked his eyes open, pausing only for a moment to allow the blurriness to clear from his vision- once everything was sharp enough George took a moment to take survey of the room he found himself in.

The room was dimly lit by what looked to be the rising sun as it barely peaked over the horizon from the window to his right, allowing him to see colors and soft features of the objects within the room. The room itself was white with brown cabinets lining the walls above a countertop on one side of the room. Everything was clean too, like,  _ super clean.  _ George wasn’t sure how to put it but everything seemed… sterile- which… was nothing like his room, or any of his flat for that matter, so it was obvious he wasn’t home. As he tried to think more intently about what the fuck happened or where the fuck he was, his head began to throb at a new degree- causing him tense up as he squeezed his eyes shut, inhaling sharply- only to be met by more pain in his chest. 

He winced leaning back into his pillow a little more as he tried to still to get comfortable… White.. Empty room… sterile smell...

**_Was he in the hospital?_ **

_ Oh god- _

George shivered.

It was cold.

Hospitals are cold.

George, who was uncomfortable by the cold room, subconsciously tightened his grip on the warm sensation in his left hand by the tiniest amount. It took George a moment to even register the action, but when he did it was a reminder he still had no idea  _ why  _ his hand was warm while the rest of the room was just so.. cold. Curiosity peaked, George moved his attention to his left to see what the source of the warmth could possibly be and…

George’s heart skipped a beat.

A person was sitting beside him with their fingers interlocked with Georges. The person- man- in question was hunched over in a chair, resting their head on the edge of the bed, face buried in the crook of their left elbow…

The position looked terribly uncomfortable.

George should be upset- no,  _ scared _ . That someone-  _ a stranger _ . Was sitting literally inches from his injured form... but... oddly enough, their touch was comforting… no,  _ grounding. _ The simple contact overriding the pain that he felt within his body, whilst his nerves hummed a low excited buzz in the pit of his stomach.

_ Who the hell was this guy? _

George examined the man's wavy blonde locks, his tanned skin, bright yellow hoodie….

And then it hit him-

**_Dream._ **

George's heart skipped a beat- Dream was here- Dream was here  _ right next to him-  _ Dream was right next to him  **_holding his hand._ **

He stared in shock for a moment, watching Dreams sleeping figure as his chest rose and fell evenly while he breathed into his elbow.. And it was only then in that moment that George realized how bad he wanted to see his friends face-  _ to hear his voice- _

George weakly squeezed Dreams hand as tightly as he could as he tried to call out his name- 

“...dre..am…?” George croaked out, not used to speaking.

At first George worried that Dream didn’t hear him, thinking that he was going to have to use even more of his energy to get a response. But then... 

Dream squeezed back. 

Suddenly, the man in yellow inhaled sharply, sitting up as he pulled himself out of the sleepy haze he had been in. He furrowed his brow as he blinked in an attempt to clear his mind- yellow eyes focusing in on George. After a moment of staring, the gears seem to click in Dream’s head as his facial expression morphed from one of confusion to one of pure shock.

Dream stops breathing for a moment.

“... George..?”

The brit’s lip pulled into a smile, quietly murmuring out a small response.

“..hi…” 

Dream’s eyes lit up in pure elation as his smile beamed right back at George. His grip tightened as he scanned every inch of George’s face- mouth opening and closing a few times.

He looked like a fish…  _ but why did he think that was kinda… cute? _

“ _ Oh my god..  _ **_George!_ ** You’re okay- Jesus christ man I-” he huffed, his voice starting to bubble up with nervous yet broken laughter as he proceeded to look down at the ground “you’re such an idiot…”

George watched Dream carefully as they fell into a comfortable silence. Dream balled the sleeve of his hoodie in his free hand and brought it up to his face… was Dream... Crying..?

George cleared his throat. “Dream..?” George attempted in a concerned tone- voice clearer than moments before.

Dream exhaled dramatically, before turning up to look at George with a smile and glistening eyes.

“I’m fine.. Just- glad you’re okay.”

George furrowed his eyebrows at Dream… He was a little confused on that part- he knew he  _ wasn’t okay- _ the hospital was sort of a dead giveaway of that. But… he didn’t exactly know  _ what happened.  _ Last thing he recalled was catching a taxi to pick up Dream from the airport… but from there he had nothing. Everything was just sort of.. A blur.

George stayed silent for another moment before expressing his thoughts.

“Why... what happened?” he asked hesitantly, giving Dream a confused look. And almost immediately- Dream's smile faltered and shoulders tensed. He studied George carefully, and after another moment of hesitation Dream stood up, dropping George's hand.

“I am going to go get the doctor- try to.. try to not fall back asleep while I am gone okay?” 

George nodded lightly in acknowledgment. Then Dream swiftly left the room, leaving George to his own devices.

Sitting all alone, George used his now free hand to pull the sheets of the bed up further- the room feeling even colder than before with Dream gone. 

The profound silence of the room made George feel  _ very  _ alone… but with the euphoria of meeting Dream subsiding, George was able to take in the status of his injuries.

His right shoulder was wrapped and splinted, to the point where his whole right arm was practically unusable- not like he tried, though. It was probably safe to say that if he did attempt to move it- it would probably hurt. alot. So he didn’t even try. 

George also moved his left hand to touch his head lightly, a lot of it was wrapped with bandages… Did he hit his head? That would explain the headache. It was getting more and more frustrating that George still had no recollection of what happened. What made it even worse was that the moment he asked about it, Dream simply stood up and left- which wasn’t helpful at all.

_ He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Dream was even here. _

George took a deep breath, and sighed. He immediately regretted that decision as his chest was stabbed with a sharp pain once again. He winced.

Okay. not cool.

Before George could mull over it any more, the door to his room swung open as a man in light blue scrubs with a clipboard walked into the room while Dream followed. The man quickly closed the distance, standing by the right side of George's bed while Dream seemed to hover in the corner of the room with his arms folded over his chest.

The man in blue adjusted a clipboard in his hand as he began to speak. “Hello George, I am Doctor Johnson. I’m glad you are finally awake. How are you feeling?”

George grimaced, as he moved his left hand to hold his chest lightly, while the doctor looked at him expectantly. 

“uhm… my chest kind of hurts…” he stated softly, and within moments of his response Doctor Johnson marked something down on his clipboard, humming in acknowledgment before he spoke.

“That is to be expected, although we can up your painkillers a little bit to help with the pain. You are suffering from three fractured ribs on your right side and a bruised rib on your left. We are going to have to minimize your movement for a while to avoid risk of further aggravation. Luckily, your ribs didn’t puncture any organs upon impact, so the recovery should be a lot smoother than what was initially anticipated.”

George gaped at him- three broken  _ ribs…  _ That was absurd- at least that explained the chest pain but- he had no recollection of this at all?

“Also,” The doctor continued, “Be careful with your right shoulder. You dislocated it so it is going to be tender for a while. It should be unmovable with the splint though, so as long as you don’t actively try to take it off or move it, there should be no reason for concern.”

George was baffled. This was a lot to take in.

“How... what even happened?”

Doctor Johnson gave him a calculated look, “Do you not recall what happened at all?”

George shook his head.

“Hm.” The Doctor hummed and wrote something down on his clipboard, then continued with his thought. “Well George, what is the last thing you remember?” 

George thinks for a moment, “The last thing I remember was catching a taxi to head to the airport-”

“And before that?”

“Uhh... Mainly just cleaning up my flat…”

“And what about this man over here, do you remember him?” Doctor Johnson questioned as he pointed his pen in Dreams direction.

“Thats Dream.” George stated decisively.

Doctor Johnson looked in Dreams direction, giving him a rather perplexed look.

Dream at first looked back at the doctor with a similar look before his eyes seemed to flash in realization, and he laughed nervously.

“Oh- haha, that's my nickname.”

George would have questioned the interaction further but Doctor Johnson quickly picked the conversation back up after Dream’s affirmation.

“Well. You do have a moderate concussion, so I suspect you might have slight amnesia surrounding the event. There is a decent chance that with time you will begin to remember the event in small pieces. But, to fill you in- while on you were on your way to the airport you ended up being involved in a fatal car accident in an intersection off Main Street.”

George looked down at his hands. Yeah, he didn’t have any recollection of that at all.. but- it did sound familiar… plausible. Like that feeling you get when you have a word on the tip of your tongue but you can’t really spit it out.

George hesitated,

“... Wait-  _ Fatal? _ But I am fine-”

“The driver of your vehicle didn’t make it.”

“O-oh.” George falters, what was he really supposed to say to that? Really, what was he supposed to say to any of this- 

“The driver suffered worse injury than you due to the driver side making impact with a street pole. We speculate it was the initial impact that killed him.. The wreck was pretty bad. You’re lucky to be alive.”

George fell silent, he didn't know what to say. Someone  _ died-  _ And apparently he almost did as well.

“Well… did everyone else make it out okay..?”

“We are unsure. We assume so. The driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision was nowhere to be found when authorities arrived on site. They probably ran to avoid charges since they were at fault. So far there is an ongoing investigation but we haven’t found the driver yet.”

George numbly nods. 

At least nobody else got hurt.

Doctor Johnson clicks his pen closed before putting it into his pocket. He looked over at Dream who perked up slightly at being acknowledged. 

“I am going to leave you two be. A nurse will be in later to check in and maybe up his painkillers a little bit. Make sure that he doesn’t mess with his bandages.”

Dream smiled the slightest bit, “Sure thing Doc.” he stated playfully. Doctor Johnson sighed, sparing them both a light smile before making his departure, door shutting behind him.

Dream and George look at eachother.

Silence.

  
  
  
  
  


“Well you look different in person.” 

Dream  _ wheezed _ .

**_“What-”_ ** He let himself catch his breath slightly “What did you expect me to look like?”

George smirked “I dunno. Some green blob or something. Maybe an amalgamate from the future or a guy forever trapped in one of those neon green skin suits.”

Dream giggled, “You are absolutely ridiculous.”

George rolled his eyes, “Hardly.”

Dream moved to sit down at the chair next to George, and George watched him carefully as he did so. Having Dream here made him so  _ happy _ despite the circumstances, and honestly? He could care less at the moment. Just seeing Dream smile-  _ laugh, _ in person meant the world to him. Those bright eyes, dusty freckles, playful smirk-

“What are you smiling at?” Dream asked, raising an eyebrow playfully. 

“I can’t believe you flew all the way out to London.”

Dream looked down at the ground, “Well, I wanted to make sure you were alright.” he stated sincerely.

George faltered slightly, he honestly expected Dream to throw a half assed joke or retort at him. But that was.. Sincere. He leaned back against his pillow, staring up at the ceiling as he sighed. Allowing his muscles to relax as fatigue started to slowly creep up on him.

“Yeah,  _ okay  _ Dream.” He chuckled, “You’re such a simp.”

“What? I am not-” Dream chuckled, before sombering again. “Seriously though… are you sure you are alright?”

George moved his head over slightly to glance at Dream sitting beside him, catching his concerned look George sombered as well.

“Yeah.. are you?”

Dream hesitated for a moment at the question, probably not expecting it. “Yeah- I’m fine. Just worried about you.. I guess.”

George closed his eyes, sighing as a smirk covered his lips once more, “Simp.”

  
Dream chuckled but didn’t respond, allowing silence to fill the room again. And for a minute, George considered fighting the fatigue that was rapidly creeping up on him, to get more time to spend with his best friend he  _ finally _ met in person. But in the end, he couldn’t do it- slowly his cognitive thought slipped away from him, as he fell into darkness once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo......
> 
> Dream's in the UK!!!
> 
> AND GOGY IS OKAY!!! :D
> 
> I would loveee to hear your feedback! All the comments on the last chapter was AMAZING- and made me super hype to write the next one, if life didn't get in the way so much- I probably would have gotten it done in like 3 days I swear.. Next chapter is a little diffrent than the others, so it might take a little longer- lets just say you guys are in for a treat :D I would say a week max? assuming school doesn't screw me.
> 
> Would you guys want like a twitter page or like a discord so I can update you guys more frequently on chapter progress? or to just talk about the fic in general...? 👀


	10. I told you everything was going to be fine...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM ALIVE!!!!!
> 
> Look: I am so sorry for two reasons...
> 
> 1\. THIS TOOK ME WAYYYY TOO LONG!!! 3 weeks??? Thats stupid. I am really sorry for making y'all wait. You guys deserve so much better :( I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it... it is 4x longer than my average chapter (coming out to be 7.8k+ words) This is a BIG FEAT for me- considering this is my first ever fic.
> 
> 2\. I am sorry... for the pain I have caused...
> 
> Enjoy!!! 
> 
> ps. this chapter is a little treat... its in Dreams POV :)
> 
> TW ARE AT THE BOTTOM!! CHECK IF YOU NEED TOO!
> 
> ALSO ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE FOOTNOTES! I HAVE A DISCORD NOW! PLEASE CHECK!

_ “I am going to be there soon. You’re going to be fine.” _

_ “See you soon.” _

  
  


* * *

  
  


  
  


Dream pulled his phone away from his face, pressing the end call button on the middle of the screen- allowing silence to fill the room.

At first, Dream was frozen. He stared blankly at his computer screen in front of him, displaying the receipt of the plane ticket he bought moments before. The situation felt… surreal- The last 20 minutes had just been a fever dream, to where he felt that within moments he would wake up in bed, greeted by the Florida sun.

Although, as another moment passed, the realization set in that he wasn’t waking up from this.

It was like tunnel vision. As the gears turned within Dream’s brain he locked in on the minor goals. Get packed. Go to the airport. Board the plane. Get to George. Dream quickly stood, grabbing the navy blue suitcase from his closet and then tossing it onto the grey sheets of his bed. He unzipped it, displaying the empty space before quickly moving to fill it- grabbing necessary things like shirt, pants, undergarments, toiletries. Item after item- goal after goal. 

Although, as he continued to work on such a mundane task, his mind couldn’t help but replay some of the events of the conversation now a couple of minutes prior. Never before had his head felt so clear and yet so distracted all at the same time. Whilst he was focused on the goal at hand, his thoughts ran rampant. He needed to get to George, that was clear. But what happens then? Was 24 hours too long? Everything was jumbled, but honestly- how could you expect otherwise? His best friend was in danger... and as of now, he couldn’t  _ do  _ **_anything_ ** _. _

Dream thought back to the call. He was sitting at his desk- listening to Spotify while editing a video when his phone started ringing. Of course, he answered, it was George, how could he not? But- when he answered. The sound of broken sobs simply shattered his day.

His chest felt tight. He had  _ never  _ heard George sound that afraid. Everything between them had always been a joke. Their whole livelihood, friendship, was built around lighthearted jabs and silly pranks. Only occasionally were they actually serious, and those occasions were few and far in-between. 

But this wasn’t a joke. This was real.

And oh- did he hate that  _ it was real _ .

The worst part about all of it was that Dream felt helpless, and Dream  _ hated _ feeling that way. Throughout his life, he had always had some sort of sense of control. Whether it was being a dominant voice in a conversation or acting on his own impulse to change a situation he was in, it was safe to say he was an impactful figure in most situations. And yes- flying to London was in fact an  _ impulsive _ decision. He couldn’t wish time to go faster- or the flight to leave earlier. In this situation, Dream had done everything he could do, so everything beyond that was out of his control. And even that didn’t feel enough.

Dream settled the last of his items into his suitcase, before turning to grab a hoodie from his closet- it was lime green with a black smiley on it, one of his classic merch items. He considered throwing it in the bag with everything else. But then thought better of it. George had no idea what he looks like- so if he wanted to give him any chance of finding him, he might as well wear something recognizable to the airport. So, he slipped the lime green hoodie over his head, refusing to give it any more thought as he turned his attention back to the suitcase that lay in front of him. 

Looking down at the items he had laid out, he felt like something was missing, he turned back to his closet- and dug through his t-shirts before landing his eyes on a royal blue shirt. He pulled it out and held it in front of himself. George really liked blue- mainly because it was one of the few colors he could see. Dream felt his face warm slightly, at the thought of George smiling, laughing, at his stupid consideration. 

**_George won’t be able to laugh if he is killed before you get there._ **

Dream's happy train of thought was shattered, as he settled the final item of clothing into the suitcase before him.

He didn’t realize his hands were shaking until he zipped it closed.

Dream ran a hand through his soft blonde hair as he fell back onto the mattress beside him. He glanced over to the clock on his wall. 3:30pm. His flight didn’t leave till slightly past midnight.

Shit.

Dream sighed, shakily pulling out his phone. Maybe he should check on George? No- That wouldn’t be good. He literally just got off the phone with him, and if he listened to Dream’s advice he would be dealing with the police by now. His fingers hovered- at a loss of what to do. He didn’t feel like doing anything to “kill time” because every option that he could think of felt like a disservice to George. But he already was ready to go- at least to the extent of his knowledge. It wasn’t like he was forgetting something...

Wait- what about  _ someone. _

Sapnap.

It only took Dream a matter of seconds to send him a message:

  
  


**_[3:34pm] Dream:_ ** _ hey you got a minute? _

  
  


Within seconds bubbles started appearing. Dream sat idly staring at his phone screen, as he awaited the upcoming message.

  
  


**_[3:35pm] Snapmap:_ ** _ yeah man whats up? _

**_[3:35pm] Dream:_ ** _ hop on vc on discord _

  
  


Dream sat up and moved to his desk, opening up the discord app on his desktop and called Sapnap. He brushed his hair back with his hand as he fitted on his headset, then gripped his right hand nervously as he awaited the familiar discord tone to signify Sapnap entering the call.

_ Badum- _

_ “Sup Dream.” _

“Hey Sapnap-” he exhales blatantly. “You have a moment?”

_ “Yeah of course, I was just working on stupid stuff for finals. What’s up?” _

Dream pauses for a moment. He didn’t really plan this part out- how exactly was he supposed to explain everything? Would George be upset that he told Sapnap?

Well. Guess it is a little late to be taking that into consideration.

“Okay- well. Earlier today George called me-”

_ “Already sounds like a trip.” _

“Sapnap, please.”

Sapnap silenced after that- finally picking up on Dreams tone. This was serious.

“... George called me, like, randomly. And I answered and he was panicking. And- I had never heard him that upset before. George doesn’t get upset like that. Even with stuff related to his family. It took me a while to calm him down. But, when I did- he started talking… and he told me that someone broke into his house-”

_ “Someone did  _ **_what?_ ** _ ”  _ Sapnap finally broke in, his joking manner completely lost, as his voice was laced with a twinge of venom. 

“Yeah- I know.” Dream grit his teeth, grabbing his hair slightly. “Overall, he was just afraid- because he came back from Brighton to find his apartment was broken into… and Sapnap- I- he sounded so  _ scared _ . And, and like, he’s out there  _ alone _ . I couldn’t just continue to sit here, thousands of miles away and let things happen- what if something else happens and one of us are not there to help?”

_ “What did you do?”  _ Sapnap asks the same way you would ask a dog who’s chewed up your favorite socks.

“I bought a ticket to London- I am leaving tonight.”

Sapnap is silent for a moment.

Dream shifts in his chair, propping an elbow on his desk and pressing the palm of his hand to his forehead. 

“I just- I don’t know. I can’t just leave him there Sapnap. I am  _ really worried. _ What if something worse happens, and I am not there to protect him?”

_ “No no- Dream. I completely understand. It's just- Do you want me to come with you?” _

Dream thought about it for a moment. He would  _ really  _ enjoy Sapnaps company, and he was pretty certain George would too. He hadn’t expected the younger man to offer. 

“I mean, if you can that would honestly be great…” Dream pauses, considering the full extent of Sapnaps offer. “Wait- what about college?” 

_ “I can probably get away from it, this seems important enough,” _ Sapnap states determinedly. 

“Didn’t you mention finals coming up sometime this week?”

Sapnap falters for a moment.  _ “I mean- Yeah. But- I probably can try to take a makeup exam or something.” _

Dream straightens, staring at Sapnaps icon on the screen. Sapnap was the only one out of the three of them that still had school- being the youngest along with being the only one that had actually gone to a proper college. Dream, although out of the schooling system was aware of the importance of events like finals along with other big schooling projects. And whilst he really wanted to have Sapnaps company- he didn’t want to be the catalyst of Sapnap receiving a failing grade, and he was sure George didn’t either. Not to mention, things could turn out fine- and Dream was sure he could handle it himself.

“No- Sapnap, you can’t just skip out on finals like that. Your parents would kill you-”

_ “But like you said- George is all out there alone.” _

“Yeah- but I am heading over there soon. So I can be there to protect him.”

Dream can hear Sapnap’s audible sigh over the phone, most likely mulling over his options, which were quickly dwindling to have the same outcome.

_ “... You promise to keep me updated?” _

“Yeah, one hundred percent.”

The silence drags on as it takes a Sapnap a long moment to answer, but when he does- his serious tone is gone.

_ “Alright. I wouldn’t want to interrupt your honeymoon anyway, But be aware I am not afraid to fly out there if things start to get hairy.”  _ Sapnap states nonchalantly, pushing the conversation towards a lighter tone.

Dream laughs at that, a smile finally breaking through his brewing nerves. 

_ “Laugh all you want green boy but I am fully aware of your intentions.” _

Dream scoffs. “Yeah right.” 

_ “Actually- now that I think about it, this is the first time George is going to see you in person. Are you ready for that?” _

Dream stiffened slightly as his free hand fiddled with the cord of his headset. For the past hour or so his mind had been completely distracted by the looming idea of George getting harmed he didn’t even consider the implications of actually meeting George in person. The nerves resurfaced, but instead of stinging like bees, they fluttered within his stomach like a patch of butterflies. 

“I mean yeah, of course I am, why wouldn’t I be?”

_ “I dunno. I was just checking, I know you still haven’t shown him what you look like.” _

Dream twists the cord around his index finger. “Well- that's not really because I am self-conscious of what I look like.” Dream states confidently, before faltering on his next utterance. “It's just- I don’t know. I personally would be more worried about actually hanging out in person than my looks.”

_ “You are scared that he might think you are overbearing in person?”  _

“I guess. I mean, it's just the simple translation of online interaction to real life- It's a lot different. So there is always a chance that he doesn’t like me in person.” Dream allows his last words to hang in the air for a moment, unwilling to elaborate any further. 

Sapnap hums, signifying possible understanding?  _ “I can see the concern. But you got to remember it’s George. I am sure that no matter the outcome you two will be fine.” _

Dream nods subconsciously, forgetting that Sapnap can’t see him do so as he looks over at the clock on his wall. 4:15pm. 

“God. can time move any faster?” he groaned.

_ “Impatient much?” _ Sapnap laughed.  _ “Here, do you wanna hop on the SMP for a bit to kill some time?” _

Dream thought about it for a moment- before he got on-call he wasn’t in the mood to do anything that was out of the realm of what he deemed ‘productive’ but, talking with Sapnap has quelled his nerves slightly, and honestly? Spending some time with the younger before boarding a plane seemed kind of nice.

“Sure, that actually sounds kind of nice.” Dream affirms.

_ “Noice.” _ Sapnap jokes whilst Dream booted up Minecraft.

Dream glanced at the clock one more time.

**4:18pm.**

In less than 24 hours, he would get to see his best friend in person.

  
  


What could go wrong with that?

  
  


* * *

  
  


  
  


The airport late at night was considerably less busy than in the middle of the day.

Dream had hopped off of call with Sapnap at about 6:30pm. The nerves of making sure George was alright on top of just the general nerves of meeting him in person got the best of him, killing his mood. Sapnap told him to get some sleep before his flight, but he simply couldn’t, his mind running yet again as he felt that time was moving as slow as molasses. He spent most of his time dwelling within his apartment, doing nothing. He even ended up leaving for the airport a full 3 hours before his flight. Which was rather rare considering his carefree nature when it came to travel, and distaste for airports. 

So, with the extra time along with the lack of traffic within the airport, Dream had a rather easy time making his way through security, and finding a seat outside the proper gate his flight would be boarded. Now it was yet again, a waiting game.

With the extra time to just sit there, Dream finally decided it was okay to send George a message.

  
  


**_[12:23am] Dream:_ ** _ hey are you doing alright? _

  
  


Dream didn’t entirely expect George to answer, at least, not immediately- but, to his surprise within a couple of seconds white bubbles started to appear on the left side of his screen.

  
  


**_[12:24am] Gogy:_ ** _ Yeah, the police just left a little bit ago _

  
  


That was a relief to say the least. Dream nimbly typed out another message.

  
  


**_[12:24am] Dream:_ ** _ how did that go? _

**_[12:25am] Gogy:_ ** _ They told me there was nothing they could do. There was no evidence of a break in _

  
  


Dream stilled. Not enough evidence? That was absurd.

  
  


**_[12:26am] Dream:_ ** _ wdym not enough evidence?  _

**_[12:28am] Gogy:_ ** _ During the investigation they couldn’t find any sources of break in, or prints. They think i’m delusional _

**_[12:29am] Dream:_ ** _ you’re not delusional _

  
  


Dream pauses for a moment, seeing if George had some sort of comment, but no bubbles appear. So after a moment of waiting Dream shoots a follow-up message.

  
  


**_[12:31am] Dream:_ ** _ i can’t believe they can’t do anything _

**_[12:31am] Gogy:_ ** _ I know right _

**_[12:32am] Gogy:_ ** _ At least you’ll be here in a couple of hours. _

  
  


Dream smiled at that, before quickly typing out another message.

  
  


**_[12:33am] Dream:_ ** _ awwww you can’t wait to see me?? _

**_[12:33am] Gogy:_ ** _ God I’ll take it back _

**_[12:33am] Dream:_ ** _ you know you love me :)) _

**_[12:34am] Gogy:_ ** _ You wish _

**_[12:35am] Dream:_ ** _ don’t worry, your knight in shining armor is coming to save you _

  
  


Right after Dream finished typing out that message, a feminine voice carried over the intercom.

_ “Passengers for American Airlines Flight 523 to London will begin boarding in approximately two minutes at gate G6. Please have your tickets ready and be prepared to board.” _

Dream glances down at his phone, recognizing that he will be boarding soon.

  
  


**_[12:36am] Dream:_ ** _ speaking of which. i actually will have to go soon, i am about to board _

  
  


He starts to pack up his stuff, putting away his charger and laptop before zipping up his black backpack. Within this time, another announcement is called for groups one and two to line up for their tickets to be scanned. Dream being a part of group two moves to stand, gripping his backpack before swinging it over his shoulder. Other people in the area also move themselves and their carry-on bags to form a line behind the desk outside the Gate towards the aircraft. While moving himself, Dream’s phone vibrates in his hand. He presses the home button to see George's response appear on screen.

  
  


**_[12:37am] Gogy:_ ** _ Cool, have a nice flight :] _

  
  


Dream smiles, unlocking his phone to shoot one more message.

  
  


**_[12:41am] Dream:_ ** _ see you soon gogy ;) _

  
  


Dream swipes up the menu on his phone and sets it to airplane, before sliding the device into his back pocket. From there, he pulls out his ticket just in time to offer it to the flight attendant. The lady with blonde hair took it, scanning it before turning back to Dream with a smile. 

“Have a nice flight.” She voices. Dream nods in return, muttering a soft thank you before heading down the long corridor.

As Dream boards the plane he sits down in one of the aisles towards the front, taking the window seat. He quickly closes the shade viewing the outside, already aware that seeing the aircraft lift hundreds of feet into the air would make the experience of flight so much worse.

Dream has never been a fan of heights. So whilst he could handle flying, it has never been a good experience for him. He sighs, buckling his seatbelt whilst setting up some music on his phone to try and calm the nerves that were starting to dwell within his chest once more. 

While he was settling down, an older couple came and sat down in the two open seats next to him. They briefly flashed a smile at him but otherwise kept to themselves, and Dream was rather grateful for that fact. 

Then, the next thing Dream knew, the plane was set to take off. And minutes later, it did. Surprisingly it was smooth sailing for the most part, with only minor turbulence. But besides that fact, Dream still gripped the side of his chair rather tightly turning the whole takeoff. Once things leveled out, Dream relaxed slightly. Despite being in airplane mode, Dream still checked his text from George, glancing over their last sent messages, he smiled.

**_I’m going to be there soon Geroge._ **

  
  


* * *

  
  


  
  


Dream didn’t sleep through the whole flight.

Turns out that an 8-hour flight gives you a lot of time to think. Through the hours of sitting there, Dream had enough time to mull over the George situation, what he was going to tell his fans when he falls off the face of the earth for a little bit, and what to say to George upon meeting.

As for that last point. Dream had thought about it quite a bit. Because here's the thing, Dream likes George, he was pretty sure of it at least. The only problem with that- is he wasn’t sure how George felt in return. So, likewise, there was always that nervous undertone within his thoughts where he worried that his actions or impulses could affect their friendship. And in the end- as bold as Dream was- he wasn’t willing to risk that. 

So, Dream had decided, until George had shown a sign of reciprocating said feelings, he was going to be very chill. Take it as they normally would, just friends. He was aware that the sole reason he was in London was to make sure George was alright, not to test the waters for something more.  _ Despite how much he might want to. _

All in all. Dreams mission was to do what is comfortable for George and nothing more. When they meet, maybe they would share a friendly hug and poke some sort of joke at one another. Then, they would most likely head over to George’s apartment to hang out until Dream passed out from jet lag- Dream smiles. Honestly, it seemed like a really fun evening, and he couldn’t wait to finally spend some quality time with George in real life.

As the plane came to a complete stop, people started to fill the aisles as they attempted to push their way to the front of the plane. Surprisingly, Dream was rather patient, sitting back in his seat waiting for the people in the aisle to clear out, before reaching for his backpack from under his seat, then proceeding to make his way out of the plane.

Once outside, Dream pulls out his phone to alert George he had landed. Switching his phone off airplane mode, Dream received a text from George immediately. 

**_[4:34pm] Gogy:_ ** _ Hey I am on my way to the airport now. Can’t wait to see you! _

Dream smiles at the message, despite the nervousness developing in his chest a fire of excitement, was lit in his heart. He was really excited to see his best friend, finally, in person. And at this rate- it would be only a matter of minutes before he would finally be able to do that.

  
  


**_[4:35pm] Dream:_ ** _ pog _

**_[4:36pm] Dream:_ ** _ i am going to go and go to luggage claim _

  
  


After sending out a message he stared at his phone to see if George would send a message in return. But alas, there were no gray bubbles appearing on the left side. Dream frowned slightly, disappointing.

“He’s probably just busy..” Dream mumbled to himself, closing out the text app. From there he spends some time wandering the corridors searching for the luggage pickup. Thank god Great Britain was an English speaking country- otherwise, Dream might have been royally fucked. 

Luckily though, Dream was able to navigate his way through the airport to the luggage pickup and stood along the carousel as he awaited his bag to appear. He took out his phone once more to shoot George a quick update text, before promptly shoving his phone back into his pocket.

  
  


**_[4:44pm] Dream:_ ** _ picking up my luggage now _

  
  


Dream watched as slowly bags started appearing from a chute a little down the line, promptly getting thrown down onto the carousel where it would be carried around in a circle displaying themselves to the other awaiting passengers. The bags would take up a whole bunch of different styles, some sleek and clean, while some others were rugged and worn. They also came in a range of colors from dark black to bright orange. Dream eventually ended up spotting his navy blue suitcase along with the carousel, grabbing it and pulling out the handle so he could roll it on the tiled floor of the airport. 

Dream once again pulled out his phone, checking to see if he had any updates from George. Dragging down his notifications screen he was met with more radio silence. Strange. He would think George would be quick to keep contact with him  _ after _ he had arrived. Yes, sometimes George could be pretty bad at responding, but that normally was only when he was asleep. When he was awake and active, it usually only took him a few minutes to respond to Dream.

_ ‘Hm, Strange.’  _ Dream mumbled to himself, starting to type out yet another message. Who knows, maybe he just fell asleep on the ride here, he was aware George probably didn’t get much sleep, considering that he was up all night dealing with the police and most likely  _ being scared shitless. _

  
  


**_[4:53pm] Dream:_ ** _ just picked up my stuff. do you want to meet out front? _

  
  


Dream hoped that phrasing it as a question would warrant a more active response, but yet again he was met with the same unmoving screen. He sighed, anxious nerves starting to creep up his back. George was fine, right? Just because he wasn’t actively responding to him didn’t mean that he was in any sort of active danger.  _ Right? _

**_Nothing could have happened- he literally was just texting me._ **

Dream hesitates while looking at the screen, silently trying to will some sort of response. Before eventually huffing, sliding his phone back into his pocket. 

Dream made it outside to the passenger pickup area and waited patiently whilst leaning up against a wall. He periodically checked his phone every 30 seconds or so, whilst looking amongst the crowd to see if he could spot his British friend, who was most definitely looking for him.

But then 5 minutes passed.

Then 10 minutes.

The 15.

The next thing Dream knew, it had been 30 minutes, and still no signs of George.

Over time, Dream had gotten more and more anxious, sending a couple more messages in hopes of a response.

  
  


**_[5:01pm] Dream:_ ** _ hey i am out front at the pickup area _

**_[5:06pm] Dream:_ ** _ are you at the airport? _

**_[5:11pm] Dream:_ ** _ georgieeee where are you _

**_[5:16pm] Dream:_ ** _ oh georgeeee _

**_[5:20pm] Dream:_ ** _ george? _

**_[5:22pm] Dream:_ ** _ george are you alright? _

**_[5:24pm] Dream:_ ** _ don’t make me hunt you down  _

**_[5:26pm] Dream:_ ** _ george _

**_[5:26pm] Dream:_ ** _ where are you _

**_[5:27pm] Dream:_ ** _ george what the hell _

**_[5:28pm] Dream:_ ** _ george  _

**_[5:30pm] Dream:_ ** _ george please respond _

  
  


By this point, Dream was very anxious. His stomach was all twisted in knots in fear of what might have happened to George. George was not responding- and as the minutes went by the chances of him just  _ ignoring  _ Dream seemed to be more and more unlikely. Uneasiness flushed down his spine as he scanned the crowd once more, still failing to find a familiar face. What if the same person from earlier- broke into George's house and killed him? What if George was kidnapped on his way here? Leaving Dream stranded at the airport of a foreign country. Dream thought through his options- he would try to head over to Georges's apartment, but he didn’t have the address written down on hand (because he didn’t think he needed to, considering George was going to pick him up). Not to mention, hadn’t even converted any of his American money to pounds. So it wasn’t like he could use the currency he had on hand to buy a card for the bus. He had no idea where anything was located or how to get around. 

So he was screwed. 

Dream tried messaging George again, a simple  _ ‘george, please’ _ but was only met with more silence from the latter. 

He considered contacting the police, but what if he was wrong? What if everything was fine, and he was just being delusional. How long should he wait to judge that? Wouldn’t George have responded by now, if everything was okay? Luckily, though, he wouldn’t have to wait to consider the answers to those questions.

His phone started ringing.

Dream didn’t even look at the caller id- he just pressed the big green button and pressed the phone up to his ear.

“George! What the hell where ar-”

_ “Is this Clay?” _

Dreams heart dropped.

“Uh- yes… who’s asking?”

The second time the voice spoke, it was easier to tell the voice was feminine, and very much british. “My name is Mary Welsh and I am a nurse at St Thomas’ Hospital. You are an emergency contact for George Davidson?”

“Emergency contact…” he murmured, taking in the words that were being transmitted over the crackly receiver. He was an emergency contact for George? How did that- he was going to ponder over the thought further before the words ‘hospital’ and ‘emergency’ finally registered. “Wait- Is George okay?” Fear struck him right in the chest. He was getting a phone call from someone in the hospital- as an emergency contact. That entailed that George was physically unable to call him himself, and was at the hospital.

“Well…” The woman paused. “They are working to get him stable. I would try to get to the hospital as soon as possible. He was involved in a fatal car accident.”

Dream felt lightheaded. 

“He’s not dead right? Please tell me he’s not dead.” His words were rushed and frantic, as he felt his heart rate pick up and his body felt hot and cold all at once. 

“George is alive, and our doctors are doing the best they can. Do you need an address to our location?”

Dream was about to numbly decline before he remembered that he didn’t actually know where he was going.

“Yes please.”

The woman proceeded to give him their address, before asking Dream a few more questions as to where he is currently, to give him instructions on what he needed to do, and where he needed to go. The whole time Dream tried to listen as intently as possible, but his nerves ran rampant as fear crawled up his back. Eventually, the woman hung up, and Dream was left standing frozen, in the middle of an airport pickup- his best friend hospitalized.

He felt sick.

_ George could be dead- he might be dead. And he wasn’t there to help him. _

**_Wasn’t the whole reason why you came to London because he was in danger and you needed to protect him?_ **

Dream's hands shook, as he gripped the blank phone in his hand tightly. The stress, fear, and loss of what to do was too much, he felt a pained rage bubble inside of him- his throat tightening and burning as he felt the need to do  _ something. _

**“FUCK!”**

He yelled loudly amongst the crowd, gripping his hair with his free hand. His breath felt heavy as he hyperventilated. He needed to get a grip. He looked along the faces of the crowd. Most people paid no mind to him, only a few spared him a weird glance at his sudden outburst.

**_Get a grip. Get a grip. Get a grip._ **

Dream needed to refocus. Set his goals. What had that lady told him? Get some money, get a cab, tell them the address.

Get some money. Catch a cab. Arrive at the hospital. Get to George.

Easy right?

Dream stepped into motion, fighting himself to focus. Get some money. Catch a cab. Arrive at the hospital. Get to George. Simple. He has this.

First things first. Money. Dream reentered the airport, which was still busy as ever, before frantically looking over the signs on the wall, trying to find a booth to convert his money. Luckily enough, he does manage to find one and quickly transfers $500 dollars worth to pounds. That would be good for a day or two right? Hopefully. 

No matter though, it would definitely be enough to get Dream where he needed to go. 

Next Dream made his way out to the pickup area, this time standing up by the curbside trying to flag down a cab. Eventually, after some painful failed attempts he managed to catch a cab before someone else stole it. Hopping into the backseat he turns to the driver and gives them the address of the hospital. The driver in the front seat simply nods, pulling out into the busy London streets.

Dream sat up straight in the backseat, hands nervously clutched together to prevent shaking while he looked out the window. He refused to sit back and relax, deeming himself unworthy of the luxury. George was hospitalized and it was all his fault. He should have gotten here sooner; he should have protected him. He should have seen the signs earlier. The moment George mentioned something was wrong Dream should have bought a ticket and headed to London. 

_ Not to mention. George got hurt on his car ride over to pick Dream up from the airport. _

It was a matter of wrong place, wrong time, and Dream was the cause of it. Or at least, that's what he thought. If he had just booked the ticket earlier, or even a little later- George wouldn’t be in the position he is currently. Maybe if Dream had been a little less eager? At the very least Dream could have just bought his own fucking cab to Georges's place... He could have helped prevent the… accident.

Wait.

...Was it even an accident?

**_“D-Dream. They want to kill me because I talk to y-you.”_ **

_ What if… _

Dreams thought process was immediately interrupted when the cab rolled to a stop in front of the hospital. Dream flipped his attention to the front to pay and tip the driver before literally throwing himself and his luggage out of the car, quickly grabbing his things, and heading into the brick building.

He stumbled inside, nerves gripping his conscious as he fumbled to get his bag over his shoulders fully. He ran up to the front desk and quickly started speaking to the lady in front of him.

“Hey, I’m- I am here to see George Davidson? Do you know where I need to go to see him?”

The lady looks up at him. “Name?”

“Clay. Clay Thomson.”

The lady types some stuff on his computer, scanning the page before her before looking back at Dream, she frowns. 

“I’m sorry. You aren’t a close relative so I am unable to permit you into the back without verbal confirmation from a family member or the patient himself.”

Dreams throat caught, nerves once more tightening against his shoulders.

No. No No _ No No  _ **_No._ **

“Wait- Please. I am a really close friend of his- I- I- He doesn’t have anyone else besides me.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. Obviously, simply being ‘friends’ wasn’t enough.

Dream sighed, he can’t believe he’s about to do this.

“Listen I am his boyfriend. We have been dating for like- 2 years now. You have to believe me, nobody else is coming. I was one of his emergency contacts too. You guys  _ called _ me to be here.” 

His voice wavered through his sentence, the stress finally catching up with him. The woman's mouth twitched at his sincerity, obviously buying his white lie. Her eyebrows furrowed down at her computer. 

“Spouses are allowed back…” She clicked her mouse a couple of times. “He is in room 36B. But we are going to have a nurse come upfront and retrieve you to make sure you don’t get lost. Please take a seat in the waiting room behind you.” 

Dream lets out a deep sigh of relief as he runs a free hand through his blonde hair. “Thank you so much-” He breathes before turning on his heel to sit down in the closest open chair. He leans his head up against the wall directly behind him. Now officially developing a migraine from all the negative emotions that had been flowing through him for a solid hour at least.

He was so exhausted and so wired all at once. The stress had him overwhelmed and tired, making him want to collapse on the floor, but the fear that drove through his spine, reminding him of the peril that George was in- kept him wide awake, in fear that something else could happen, and he once more wouldn’t be there to protect him.

He cares about George. And it pains him that he doesn’t even know if he is okay or not. 

Dream found himself waiting in the waiting room for a long time. He found himself nervously fiddling with his shaky hands, pulling at the fabric of the seat or glancing around the room. A normal person probably would have gone on their phone and done something stupid like scroll through Twitter. But Dream didn’t do that. Maybe it was because of the nerves, or maybe it was because he was worried seeing George all over social media would finally tip him over the edge- but either way, he found sitting doing nothing was much more comfortable than finding a way to distract himself.

“Clay?”

Dream jumped, whipping his head around to face the woman in a mint green jumper at the doorway. He stood and the woman smiled. “Follow me.”

She nodded at him in her direction and he quickly jogged over, dragging his luggage. The moment he was in the woman’s earshot he started asking questions. 

“Is George alright? How bad is he? He’s not- you know, dead- right? Please tell me he is alright-”

The woman turned to face him a little bit, still wearing the same smile (luckily it seemed genuine). “He’s stable. He might not wake up for a couple of hours and he is pretty banged up. But he will make an eventual recovery. So don’t worry, your boyfriend is alright.”

Dreams heart soared at the news, hearing that George was alright was like music to his ears. Hours of pure panic finally paid off- yeah, he still felt guilty that George was hurt- but at least he was  _ alive. _

The woman in green stopped at a door and turned to face Dream, losing the smile a little bit. “Now, when we go in, don't be alarmed, he looks pretty bad between the bandages and the more visible wounds, but I assure you it isn’t as bad as it appears.”

Dream nods eagerly- he’s finally going to see George, and he’s  _ okay.  _

“Yeah for sure I understand. I’ll be fine.” Dream states. The nurse nods and pushes the door open ushering Dream inside. 

And as much as Dream expected it, he wasn’t ready for the horrors that awaited him.

George looked  _ bad. _ Sticking out like a sore thumb in such a big, plain room, and yet he looked so, so small. He was covered in white bandages that seemed to hide the worst of the injuries on his battered and bruised body. But either way, it looked like George decided to get himself into a fight and took one too many punches. The brunette was connected to all sorts of monitors- but the only one Dream could properly recognize was the one that measured his heartbeat, the rest being left a mystery. His dark hair was under the bandage that covered his head- while parts of it stuck out. Speaking of which, it looked like someone tried to mummify him. The biggest bandages covered his head, chest, and shoulder. So it was easy to conclude that those were the worst of George’s injuries assuming nothing happened to his legs- which were hidden under a thin sheet. The parts of his body that weren’t covered by the bigger band-aids were littered with minor cuts and bruises, that were either discolored or scabbing. And that didn’t even mention his breathing, which was coming in regular, shallow breaths. The blonde took a shaky breath.

Dream always knew that one day he would get to meet George in person- but  _ never _ like this.

He was overwhelmed- relieved- horrified- remorseful. How the fuck could he have let this happen to his best friend. He was riddled with guilt, as he looked over George's injured forum. And not only that, but he was so enamored by the sight before him he completely missed the other person in the room.

“Clay, Right?” A baritone voice hummed. 

Dream blinked, looking at the man in deep blue scrubs to the side of Georges's bed.

“Y-yeah. That's me.”

The man smiled, and crossed the room to meet Dream halfway, he held out his hand.

“Doctor Johnson. I will be taking care of George during his time here.”

“Nice to meet you..” Dream murmurs. 

“Here, why don’t you have a seat, you look a little pale.” The doctor gestures towards a duo of chairs on either side of the mini table.

Dream hummed mildly as he numbly sat down in one of the two open chairs, the Doctor sitting down in the opposing option. Once they sat, Doctor Johnson set down his clipboard in his lap and turned to face Dream.

“So, for starters how are you doing? Do you need anything?”

Dream blinked for a moment, he didn’t expect the Doctor to ask how  _ he _ was doing.

“Uh, I’m alright.. Just- overwhelmed I guess.” He laughed nervously.

Doctor Johnson nodded. “Completely understandable, I can’t imagine what you are going through.” He adjusts his clipboard on his lap. “Do you want me to talk to you a little bit about his condition?”

Dream glanced over at George, unconscious and injured- feeling another pang of guilt in his heart. 

“Yes please.”

“Well, to simply list it out the main injuries of concern are he has three fractured ribs on his right and a bruised rib on his left. Along with that, his right shoulder was dislocated and he has the possibility for anywhere from a moderate to a severe concussion.”

Dream gaped at him. That was quite the list- three broken ribs? AND a dislocated shoulder? 

“Will he be able to recover?” Dream asked quickly. Doctor Johnson nodded.

“At least to the best of my speculation he should be in for a smooth recovery. The only thing I am worried about is his concussion because we can’t tell the severity of it whilst he is asleep.”

Dream ponders Doctor Johnson's statement. “Well, it can’t be that bad can it?”

“Most likely not, but, there is a chance that if his concussion is severe enough he could suffer from anywhere from mild to severe amnesia.”

Dreams blood ran cold. “What does that mean?”

“It means that there is a possibility that George could have pieces of his memory missing. It's only about a 30% chance of this occurring, but he could either have forgotten minor things like mundane events of the past week- or he could have forgotten something severe like an event of a member of his past.” 

Dream ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm his nerves.

“So.. you’re telling me there's a chance that he could have forgotten about me..?”

“The chances are low but it is still possible.”

Dream sucked in a breath, turning back to George- there is no way that he could forget him, right? They were best friends- he cared about George  _ so much. _ There's no way that one of the most important people of his life- could have forgotten him.

Right?

For a long while, Doctor Johnson sat with Dream in silence. There really was nothing else to say. The news was possibly shattering, but they're within it, there is still a glimmer of hope. Eventually, after what could have been anywhere between a few minutes all the way up to an hour. Doctor Johnson moved to stand. Tucking his clipboard under his armpit. 

“Well, you are welcome to stay here with George for as long as you would like. There is coffee down the hall and a dining hall down on the second floor. If you need anything, you can press the red button on the side of Georges's bed. Please come get me if he wakes up, and a nurse will be in every occasionally for routine check-ins.”

Dream nodded, preparing to bid Doctor Johnson his farewell before a memory stopped him.

“Wait-”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at him.

“How- how did you guys know I was an emergency contact?”

“Oh. George had a card in his wallet that had a list of contacts, it included you and his parents.”

Dream paused, considering his words. “Did his parents respond…?”

“Both instances we had no response. We left a message but we have heard nothing as of yet.”

Dream nodded slowly, a frown deepening on his face. Of course they didn’t answer.

“Alright... Thank you- for everything.”

“It is no problem, use the button if you need anything.”

Doctor Johnson turned on his heel and left the room leaving Dream alone with George's sleeping form. Dream looks over at him from the spot in his chair forlornly. George wasn’t okay… and that was clear to Dream now. It  _ hurt  _ to see him like this. But at least that he was  _ alive.  _

A sad smile started to peak onto Dream's face, it was so fucking  _ stupid. _ But somehow- despite everything- George managed to look peaceful while he slept. The injuries failed to damage his naturally beautiful complexion.

At least, in Dreams eyes.

Dream took his chair and pulled it up to be right next to George, feeling the need to be closer to his best friend. 

He looked over George’s injuries once more- this time coming to terms with it a little bit better. Concussion, dislocated shoulder, broken ribs- But alive. George was  _ alive _ . He was here and living. Yes, he wasn’t  _ okay _ but he was going to be. And this time, Dream was going to be here to protect him.

**_I am going to protect him. Whatever it takes._ **

And when he thought that, he meant it. He wasn’t going to let anything like this happen again. Not if he could help it. If anyone wanted to lay a hand on George- they were going to have to get through him first.

But, the more that the confidence of his internal vow to protect George came to light, doubt crept out from the darkness within his mind. What if he couldn’t protect him? What if he doesn’t turn out okay? What if he forgot him? What if he never wakes up-

Panic started to buzz at the nape of dreams neck as he considered, George just drifting away in his sleep. It was an irrational fear, yes, but after everything he had been through- could you really blame him? Dream glanced down at George's hand laying beside him. He just had to check- Dream reaches out, lightly touching the palm of Georges's hand. It was warm, signifying that he was in fact alive. He lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. His original plan was to pull away after the initial contact- but, he couldn’t bring himself too. Instead, he reveled at the contact that ensured that his friend was alright, and interlaced his fingers with George’s free ones.

He will be okay.

**_You almost lost him._ **

Dream sighs “George… I am so sorry… I told you that everything was going to be okay.. And- I don’t know- I guess it will be. But I can’t help but feel that this is all my fault.” He laughs brokenly, feeling heat gather in his face as his migraine continues to dully pound against his skill. “I… I won’t fail you again. From this point forward- you are going to be fine. I promise.” 

Dream squeezed his eyes shut, coming off of a day of pure adrenaline and fear- his emotional wall began to crumble. Suddenly, he couldn’t find his composure as he felt tears begin to form. Everything hurt, he was tired, and his best friend had almost died. The first sob came as he used his free hand to muffle the sound. And the next thing he knew, he found himself resting his head on the bed in front of him- buried in his left elbow, as he finally let out all the stress and worry that had accumulated over the past 24 hours.

_ George could have died _

**He almost did die.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw//  
> \- mention of car crash  
> \- mention of injury  
> \- mild and severe panic  
> \- mention of possible death
> 
> Soo??? How was it? Do I need to hide in a corner of the pain I have caused?
> 
> As always, thank you guys so so much for the support- I am super shocked my story has gotten the traction it has- and I love each and every comment I recieve (I always try to respond). Next chapter should be quicker cause it is not nearly as long. But thank you guys so so much...
> 
> AND I HAVE A DISCORD NOW!! FEEL FREE TO JOIN! ITS FREE- AND WE VIBE :) (also, you will get like updates on how the new chapter is coming along...)
> 
> Discord: https://discord.gg/ZCAfQAcR9B
> 
> (Also you can add me personally at TheLittleStar_tm#3957


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